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History · Onstad Township

50% of Onstad Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1984 on.

0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Onstad 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 Onstad Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Onstad Township’s homes were built before 1940.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Onstad Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Onstad Township’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

Onstad Township, in brief

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

Onstad Township is a township in Polk County, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Grand Forks-ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 70 at the 2000 census. Onstad Township was organized in 1882, and named for Ole P. Onstad, a Norwegian settler.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 71 to 61 (-14%).

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

Timeline

Onstad Township, 1890 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Melvin post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1943Post officeThe Melvin post office closes
  5. 1984On 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

Onstad Township on the map in 1984

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Onstad Township.

Onstad Township on the 1984 USGS map1984Crookston sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Onstad Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Melvin
Gone or out of use
MelvinlocaleMelvin Post Officepost office

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.

Kertsonville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLiberty TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGodfrey TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRussia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Onstad Township’s history

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) 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.