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History · Maple Lake Township

Maple Lake Township dates to 1858

Most of Maple Lake Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1900.

1858founded
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Maple Lake Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Maple Lake Township began

When was Maple Lake Township founded?

1858

Maple Lake Township dates its founding to 1858 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 470 in 19002020 census: 2,144168 years
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓

What stands out about Maple Lake 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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Maple Lake Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMaple Ave. 1889: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Maple Lake Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Maple Lake Township.

Read it all →

The area where Maple Lake now stands was long a quiet expanse of forest and water home to the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples. They hunted game in the woods and fished in the lake that later gave the town its name.

In the early 1800s, as the United States expanded westward, explorers like Zebulon Pike passed through the region, laying claim to vast territories. By the mid-1850s, the U.S. government had opened Wright County to settlers and the first pioneers arrived, drawn by the promise of fertile soil and abundant timber. Among them were Irish immigrants, many from County Clare.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Maple Lake Township, 1858 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858
    FoundingMaple Lake Township is established
  3. 1889In the archiveMaple Ave. 1889
  4. 20th century
  5. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Maple Lake Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
Maple Ave. 18891889Maple Ave. 1889
1890s–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
Today6 recent
Maple Lake Minnesota Frosty Morning Jan 20212021Maple Lake Minnesota Frosty Morning Jan 2021Untitled photo2021Untitled photo1971 International Scout20171971 International Scout1965 Volkswagen EMPI Dune Buggy20151965 Volkswagen EMPI Dune Buggy1965 Volkswagen EMPI Dune Buggy20151965 Volkswagen EMPI Dune BuggyMaple Lake Water Tower2000Maple Lake Water Tower
On the map

Maple Lake Township on the map, 1958 to 1981

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

Maple Lake Township on the 1958 USGS mapMaple Lake Township on the 1981 USGS map1958Buffalo 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 Maple Lake 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.

Maple Ave. 1889
Retake this viewMaple Ave. 1889, 1889

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Maple Lake Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00019001920194019601980200020202,159

Grew from 470 people in 1900 to 2,159 in 2020, 4 times over.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Maple LakeIts storyCSilver Creek TownshipIts storyCChatham TownshipIts storyCBuffalo TownshipIts storyCMonticello Township1 historic placeBBuffaloIts storyCAlbion TownshipIts storyC+Corinna Township1 historic placeC+

Questions about Maple Lake Township’s history

What year was Maple Lake Township founded?

In 1858, according to Wikidata. the census of 1900 counted 470 people here.

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 (7), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.