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History · Star Lake Township

Star Lake Township’s post office opened in 1880

Most of Star Lake Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1912 on.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Star Lake Township began

When was Star Lake Township founded?

1880

The Star Lake Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Star Lake (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 446146 years
Founding year: the first Star Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Star Lake 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 Star Lake Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Star Lake Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Star Lake 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

Star Lake Township, in brief

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

Star Lake Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 446 at the 2020 census. Star Lake Township was organized in 1880.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 415 to 446 (+7%).

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

Timeline

Star Lake Township, 1880 to 1912

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Star Lake post office opens
  3. 1898Born hereCharles Joseph Vogel is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Post officeThe Star Lake post office closes
  6. 1912On 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

Star Lake Township on the map, 1912 to 1973

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

Star Lake Township on the 1912 USGS mapStar Lake Township on the 1973 USGS map1912Vergas 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 Star Lake Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

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

Gone or out of use
School Number 129schoolSchool Number 137schoolStar Lake 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.

Maplewood TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDead Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMaine Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Star Lake Township’s history

What year was Star Lake Township founded?

The Star Lake Township post office opened in 1880, 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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.