The Marcell Township post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Mack (1912), Hayslips Corners (1938) and Talmoon (1939), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 474124 years
Founding year: the first Marcell Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Marcell Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Marcell
1902–today
Mack
1912–1938
Hayslips Corners
1938–1939
Talmoon
1939–1954
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlderMarcellTalmoon
Gone or out of use
MarcelllocaleTalmoon Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Marcell Township
Evergreen Knoll
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Marcell Township on the map, 1919 to 1996
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marcell Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1919Marcell 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 Marcell Township.
Marcell was founded under the name Turtle Lake in 1905. The name was changed to Marcell the following year due to a name conflict with other communities named Turtle Lake. The name Marcell is in honor of Andy Marcell, a conductor on the former Minneapolis and Rainy River Railway, who was involved in a railway accident in the area.
The site of the town center was originally at a store operated by John Lundeen on Big Turtle Lake, but was moved in 1910 to its present location near the railway.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
