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History · Itasca Township

Itasca Township’s post office opened in 1897, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1972 on.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Itasca Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Itasca Township began

When was Itasca Township founded?

1897

The Itasca Township post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Itasca (1897), Vern (1900) and Mallard (1902), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 129129 years
Founding year: the first Itasca Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Itasca Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Itasca Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Itasca Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Itasca Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewUntitled photo, possibly related to: La…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Itasca
1897–1903
Vern
1900–1920
Mallard
1902–1924
Lake Itasca
1903–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lake ItascaMallardVern
Gone or out of use
Lake Itasca Post Officepost officeMallard Post Officepost officeVern Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Itasca Township
Old Sell LakeSell LakeStevens

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Itasca Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Itasca Township.

Read it all →

Thomas A. Holmes and James Beatty built the Old Log Trading Post in 1849 at the townsite location. Governor Alexander Ramsey suggested the site be named "Itasca (Itaska)" in honor of Lake Itasca. The village was officially named Itasca with the building of the Northern Pacific Railway through the site. Thomas Holmes and James Beatty owned the only two homes at the site in 1851.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Itasca Township, 1897 to 1972

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Itasca post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Vern post office opens
  5. 1902Post officeThe Mallard post office opens
  6. 1903Post officeThe Itasca post office closes
  7. 1920Post officeThe Vern post office closes
  8. 1924Post officeThe Mallard post office closes
  9. 1936In the archiveUntitled photo, possibly related to: Lake Itasca, Minnesota
  10. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Itasca Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s4 items
Untitled photo, possibly related to: Lake Itasca, Minnesota1936Untitled photo, possibly related to: Lake Itasca, Min…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Source of the Mississippi River. Lake Itasca, Minnesota1936Untitled photo, possibly related to: Source of the Mi…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Source of the Mississippi River. Lake Itasca, Minnesota1936Untitled photo, possibly related to: Source of the Mi…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Source of the Mississippi River. Lake Itasca, Minnesota1936Untitled photo, possibly related to: Source of the Mi…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Itasca Township on the map, 1972 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Itasca Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Itasca Township on the 1972 USGS mapItasca Township on the 1985 USGS map1972La Salle Lake sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Itasca Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Untitled photo, possibly related to: Lake Itasca, Minnesota
Retake this viewUntitled photo, possibly related to: Lake Itasca, Minnesota, 1936

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Itasca Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lake Hattie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRice TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBear Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Itasca Township’s history

What year was Itasca Township founded?

The Itasca Township post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.