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History · North Fork Township

North Fork Township’s post office opened in 1868, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1965 on and old-book passages.

1868first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How North Fork Township began

When was North Fork Township founded?

1868

The North Fork Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, North Fork (1868), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 273158 years
Founding year: the first North Fork Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about North Fork 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 writtenNo old photos of North Fork Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start North Fork Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

North Fork Township, in brief

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

North Fork Township is a township in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 247 at the 2010 census. North Fork Township was organized in 1867, and named after the North Fork Crow River.

Its first post office opened in 1868. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 247 to 273 (+11%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about North Fork Township in 1915

Passages that mention North Fork Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

North Fork Township. — The first school in the township of North Fork was taught in 1868 by Edward Meagher in a very primitive structure situated on the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 14. Embrick Knudson, Ole O.
History of Stearns County, Minnesota1915 · page 1385Read the page →
Read the text

North Fork Township. — The first school in the township of North Fork was taught in 1868 by Edward Meagher in a very primitive structure situated on the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 14. Embrick Knudson, Ole O.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

North Fork Township, 1868 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe North Fork post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe North Fork post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

North Fork Township on the map, 1965 to 1986

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

North Fork Township on the 1965 USGS mapNorth Fork Township on the 1986 USGS map1965Padua 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 North Fork Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Another post office, North Fork, opened and closed inside today’s town.

1cemetery inside North Fork Township
Big Grove Church

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

BrootenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRaymond TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake George TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBangor TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrow Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about North Fork Township’s history

What year was North Fork Township founded?

The North Fork Township post office opened in 1868, 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 →
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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, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.