Photo: Peter Michael Grund (petermgrund as found on Flickr) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers
How North Branch Township began
When was North Branch Township founded?
1865
The North Branch Township post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, North Branch (1865), Spring Lake (1888) and Weber (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 142 in 18802020 census: 1,718161 years
How historic is North Branch Township?
C+
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first North Branch Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives North Branch Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Branch Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of North Branch Township’s overall grade.
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so North Branch Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about North Branch Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
North Branch became a township in 1861, and incorporated in 1881. In 1901 North Branch split into a village covering the more densely populated downtown area and a township covering the rest of the former village. The township later incorporated as the village of Branch in 1961. The two cities talked about a potential merger for years, beginning in the late 1970s. The first public referendum on the issue was held in 1984, and failed. A second referendum was held on September 13, 1994, and passed. The two cities officially merged on November 14, 1994.
Arrowhead Transit provides public bus routes and Dial-A-Ride in North Branch as of 2022.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Branch Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Cambridge 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 North Branch Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The North Branch Township post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does North Branch Township rank for history?
North Branch Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in North Branch Township?
21% of North Branch Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1976.
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).
From 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.
