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CHistory
History · St. Francis

St. Francis’ post office opened in 1857, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #175 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

Most of St. Francis was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Its Register listings are the H. G. Leathers House and the Riverside Hotel. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1860.

1857first post office
2on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How St. Francis began

When was St. Francis founded?

1857

The St. Francis post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Saint Jonathon (1857), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 153 in 18602020 census: 8,142169 years

How historic is St. Francis?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first St. Francis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives St. Francis’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Francis is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #175 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Francis’ overall grade.
Founding era1857, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.3% of homes (±1.2) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register2 listings, 2.4 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 36%

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 St. Francis’ 2.4 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. 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 St. Francis’ 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 St. Francis are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s St. Francis, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. Francis’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Francis’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Saint Francis
1857–today
Saint Jonathon
1857–1857
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint FrancisWoodhaven Manufactured Home CommunityWoodlyn Court
Gone or out of use
Aero-Plain AirportairportSchool Number 26school
1cemetery inside St. Francis
Oak View

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

The story

How St. Francis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Francis.

Read it all →

In 1855 Dwight Woodbury built a dam, grist and saw mill, and the first house, which later became the Riverside Hotel. George Armsby and E. Fowler are considered the first settlers in the area.

St. Francis Township was settled in 1855 and organized in 1857. The name St. Francis comes from Louis Hennepin, who named the Rum River after Francis of Assisi in 1680.

The first doctor to practice in St. Francis arrived in 1857 and was known as Dr. Marshall. In the same year, school was started at the home of M. Fowler, and Hattie Waterhouse became the first teacher.

In 1869, Burns Township (Nowthen) broke off from St. Francis Township.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about St. Francis in 1905

Passages that mention St. Francis, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In the fall of 1867 he moved to the town of St. Francis, where his father took a homestead. On March 4. 1868, his father was killed on the railroad near what is now Northtown. and the family lived in Fridley and hter in Blaine, of which town Mr.
History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota1905 · page 251Read the page →
Read the text

In the fall of 1867 he moved to the town of St. Francis, where his father took a homestead. On March 4. 1868, his father was killed on the railroad near what is now Northtown. and the family lived in Fridley and hter in Blaine, of which town Mr.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1862 he sold his farm and enlisted in Co. A, Eighth Minnesota Regiment, and served throughout the war. After tht war he purchased a farm in the town of St. Francis, wher-: he lived until the time of his death.
History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota1905 · page 319Read the page →
Read the text

In 1862 he sold his farm and enlisted in Co. A, Eighth Minnesota Regiment, and served throughout the war. After tht war he purchased a farm in the town of St. Francis, wher-: he lived until the time of his death.

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

St. Francis, 1857 to 1994

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Saint Francis post office opens
  3. 1857Post officeThe Saint Jonathon post office opens
  4. 1857Post officeThe Saint Jonathon post office closes
  5. 1883BuiltH. G. Leathers House is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1966Born hereNatalie Zeleznikar is born here
  9. 1973Born hereSean Sherk is born here
  10. 1994Born hereMagdalyn Ewen is born here
By decade

St. Francis, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Welcome sign2024Welcome signCity Hall2024City HallCounty Roads 70 and 28 split In2021County Roads 70 and 28 split InH. G. Leathers House2016H. G. Leathers HouseRum River Inn2013Rum River Inn
On the map

St. Francis on the map, 1916 to 1974

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

St. Francis on the 1916 USGS mapSt. Francis on the 1974 USGS map1916St Francis 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 St. Francis.

On the National Register

2 historic places in St. Francis

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
H. G. Leathers House
H. G. Leathers House, built 1883Riverside Hotel
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Victorian1
H. G. Leathers HouseVictorian · Built 1883
Riverside HotelBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

St. Francis, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001900195020008,142

Grew from 153 people in 1860 to 8,142 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Francis’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in St. Francis

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Sean SherkAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1973
Magdalyn EwenAmerican athlete · b. 1994
N
Natalie ZeleznikarAmerican politician · b. 1966
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Athens Township1 historic placeB−Stanford TownshipIts storyC−Oak GroveIts storyC−BethelIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNowthen1 historic placeCEast BethelIts storyDLivonia TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about St. Francis’ history

What year was St. Francis founded?

The St. Francis post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does St. Francis rank for history?

St. Francis is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #175 of 273 in Minnesota. 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.

What is on the National Register in St. Francis?

Two places: the H. G. Leathers House (listed 1979) and the Riverside Hotel (1979).

How old are the homes in St. Francis?

1% of St. Francis’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 2001.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.