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History · Kettle River Township

Kettle River Township’s post office opened in 1881

Most of Kettle River Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 1930.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kettle River Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kettle River Township began

When was Kettle River Township founded?

1881

The Kettle River Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Kettle River (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 169 in 19302020 census: 479145 years
Founding year: the first Kettle River Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Kettle River 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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 234 in 1960; 166 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kettle River Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kettle River 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 viewA load of logs at the Kettle River land…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Kettle River Township, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 234

Peaked at 234 in 1960; 166 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kettle River Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Kettle River Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kettle River Township.

Read it all →

The Kettle River area of Carlton County, Minnesota, was settled by a large concentration of Finnish Immigrants in the years leading up to the First World War and the influence of those immigrants is still noticeable even today.

On October 12, 1918, the Cloquet fire, caused by sparks on the local railroads, left much of western Carlton County area devastated. Several hundred persons were killed by the fire and thousands more left homeless. The only building left standing in Kettle River following the fire was the bank that was made of brick. This building still stands in Kettle River, near the center of the town on the west side of State Highway 73.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kettle River Township, 1881 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Kettle River post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Kettle River post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1915In the archiveA load of logs at the Kettle River landing, Minnesota pineries, U.S.A
  6. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 234
  7. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Kettle River Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
A load of logs at the Kettle River landing, Minnesota pineries, U.S.A1915A load of logs at the Kettle River landing, Minnesota…
1920s–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
Today11 recent
Main Street looking north2025Main Street looking northKettle River Feeds2025Kettle River FeedsFarmer's State Bank building2025Farmer's State Bank buildingCollapsed wall on building2025Collapsed wall on buildingC.A.P. Co-op Oil Association Building2025C.A.P. Co-op Oil Association BuildingKettle River Snowmobile Club2021Kettle River Snowmobile ClubKettle River Feeds sign on a building2021Kettle River Feeds sign on a buildingKettle River Feeds building2021Kettle River Feeds buildingKettle River City Hall and Fire Department2021Kettle River City Hall and Fire DepartmentFarmer's State Bank building2021Farmer's State Bank buildingRail Bridge Over the Kettle River - Sandstone Minnesota in Winter2018Rail Bridge Over the Kettle River - Sandstone Minneso…
On the map

Kettle River Township on the map, 1961 to 1982

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

Kettle River Township on the 1961 USGS mapKettle River Township on the 1982 USGS map1961Moose Lake 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 Kettle River 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.

A load of logs at the Kettle River landing, Minnesota pineries, U.S.A
Retake this viewA load of logs at the Kettle River landing, Minnesota pineries, U.S.A, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Kettle River Township

Nobody well known was born in Kettle River Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ernie NeversAmerican football player and coach · b. 1902
Ralph PlaistedAmerican explorer · b. 1927
S
Steve KinerAmerican football player · b. 1947
Dale Eugene WayrynenUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1947
D
Doug CarlsonAmerican politician · b. 1939
M
Mark VichorekAmerican ice hockey defenceman · b. 1963
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

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

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.

Willow River1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRutledgeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFinlayson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSturgeon Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorman Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBremen TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPine Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Kettle River Township’s history

What year was Kettle River Township founded?

The Kettle River Township post office opened in 1881, 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 Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.