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–Not graded
History · Johnson Township

22% of Johnson Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1919 on.

0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Johnson 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 writtenNo old photos of Johnson Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Johnson Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Johnson Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Johnson Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Johnson Township is a township in Polk County, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Grand Forks-ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 62 at the 2000 census. Johnson Township was organized in 1898, and named for John O. Johnson, a county official.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 51 to 41 (-20%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Johnson Township, 1896 to 1931

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1896Post officeThe Wanke post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1931Post officeThe Wanke post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Johnson Township on the map, 1919 to 1972

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

Johnson Township on the 1919 USGS mapJohnson Township on the 1972 USGS map1919Winsor sheet · 1:62,500

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Wanke, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Wanke Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Johnson Township
Bethany Lutheran

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Equality Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGully TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHickory TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHangaard TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Johnson Township’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 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.