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History · Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach’s post office opened in 1939

Most of Manhattan Beach was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1940.

1939first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Manhattan Beach began

When was Manhattan Beach founded?

1939

The Manhattan Beach post office opened in 1939, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 86 in 19402020 census: 6187 years
Founding year: the first Manhattan Beach post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Manhattan Beach’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 Manhattan Beach are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Manhattan Beach’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Manhattan Beach’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
The story so far

Manhattan Beach, in brief

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

Manhattan Beach is a small city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States, near Crosslake. As of the 2020 census, Manhattan Beach had a population of 61. It is part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1939. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 57 to 61 (+7%).

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

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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Manhattan Beach on the map in 1959

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Manhattan Beach.

Manhattan Beach on the 1959 USGS map1959Lower Whitefish 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 Manhattan Beach.

People over time

Manhattan Beach, census by census

019401960198020002020Peak: 86

Between 46 and 86 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Manhattan Beach

Nobody well known was born in Manhattan Beach itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
Joshua Norman HaldemanPolitician and chiropractor · b. 1902
Terry BakerAmerican football and basketball player · b. 1941
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Fifty LakesIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTimothy TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Manhattan Beach’s history

What year was Manhattan Beach founded?

The Manhattan Beach post office opened in 1939, 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 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.