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History · Littlefork

Littlefork’s post office opened in 1902, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1910.

1902first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Littlefork’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Littlefork began

When was Littlefork founded?

1902

The Littlefork post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 104 in 19102020 census: 553124 years
Founding year: the first Littlefork post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Littlefork’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 918 in 1980; 553 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · People over time

Littlefork, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 918

Peaked at 918 in 1980; 553 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Littlefork came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Littlefork.

Read it all →

A post office called Littlefork has been in operation since 1902. The city was named for the nearby Little Fork River.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Littlefork, 1902 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Littlefork post office opens
  3. 1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1937In the archiveIndian woman washing clothes. Blueberry camp
  5. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 918
By decade

Littlefork, decade by decade

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

1930s6 items
Indian woman washing clothes. Blueberry camp1937Indian woman washing clothes. Blueberry campBandstand. Littlefork, Minnesota1937Bandstand. Littlefork, MinnesotaBuckboard. Littlefork, Minnesota1937Buckboard. Littlefork, MinnesotaTelephone operator1937Telephone operatorLumberjacks near Littlefork, Minnesota1937Lumberjacks near Littlefork, MinnesotaLumberjacks near Littlefork, Minnesota1937Lumberjacks near Littlefork, Minnesota
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

Littlefork on the map, 1919 to 1970

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

Littlefork on the 1919 USGS mapLittlefork on the 1970 USGS map1919Happy Land 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 Littlefork.

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.

Indian woman washing clothes. Blueberry camp
Retake this viewIndian woman washing clothes. Blueberry camp, 1937

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Littlefork’s post office has been open since 1902.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Haye's Mobile Home ParkMerkling's Trailer Court
Gone or out of use
Littlefork Stationlocale

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

Help out

Finish Littlefork’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewIndian woman washing clothes. Blueberry…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Littlefork’s history

What year was Littlefork founded?

The Littlefork post office opened in 1902, 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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), 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.