The Scambler Township post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Pelican Lake (1873), Scambler (1873) and Bangor (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 568153 years
Founding year: the first Scambler Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Scambler 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.
Pelican Lake
1873–1905
Scambler
1873–1891
Bangor
1879–1889
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Clear ViewPelican Hills Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Bangor SchoolschoolGrove Lake SchoolschoolPelican Lake Post Officepost officePelican Lake SchoolschoolScambler Post Officepost officeSchool Number 39school
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Scambler Township
Grove LakeGrove LakeScambler
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Scambler Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Scambler Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Scambler Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 568 at the 2020 census. Scambler Township was organized in 1871, and named for Robert Scambler, an early settler.
Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 476 to 568 (+19%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Scambler Township, 1873 to 1914
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Scambler Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Pelican Rapids 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 Scambler Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Scambler Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
