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History · Lake Lillian

Lake Lillian’s post office opened in 1863, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1930.

1863first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lake Lillian began

When was Lake Lillian founded?

1863

The Lake Lillian post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 206 in 19302020 census: 246163 years
Founding year: the first Lake Lillian post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lake Lillian’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 Lake Lillian are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 358 in 1950; 246 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Lake Lillian’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake Lillian’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lake Lillian’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Lake Lillian, census by census

010020030040019401960198020002020Peak: 358

Peaked at 358 in 1950; 246 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Lillian’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Lake Lillian came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Lillian.

Read it all →

The town of Lake Lillian formed in February 1923 when railroad tracks were laid for the Luce Line Railroad. The name Lake Lillian came from the nearby lake Lake Lillian. The lake was named after Lillian Whitefield, wife of Edwin Whitefield who explored this area in 1856. The town was incorporated on February 25, 1926. The first school was built in Lake Lillian in 1913. In 1926, there was a report of oil being discovered in the city limits. During World War II, a hemp processing plan was built near Lake Lillian to help the war effort. In 1955, a new school was built. In 1965, Lake Lillian voted to approve the sale of liquor.

ChaptersLake Lillian Farmers Cooperative Elevator explosion

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lake Lillian, 1863 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1863Post officeThe Lake Lillian post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 358
  5. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lake Lillian, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Auto body and repair-Lake Lillian, Minnesota2025Auto body and repair-Lake Lillian, MinnesotaLake Lillian, Minnesota2020Lake Lillian, MinnesotaLake Lillian welcome sign, south entrance2020Lake Lillian welcome sign, south entranceLake Lillian Municipal Building2020Lake Lillian Municipal BuildingLake Lillian Grain Elevator and Water Tower 012020Lake Lillian Grain Elevator and Water Tower 01MNMap-doton-Lake Lillian2005MNMap-doton-Lake Lillian
On the map

Lake Lillian on the map, 1957 to 1982

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

Lake Lillian on the 1957 USGS mapLake Lillian on the 1982 USGS map1957Olivia 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 Lake Lillian.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

East Lake Lillian TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake Lillian TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lake Lillian’s history

What year was Lake Lillian founded?

The Lake Lillian post office opened in 1863, 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 →
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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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.