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History · Vermilion Lake Township

Half of Vermilion Lake Township’s homes were built after 1971

Most of Vermilion Lake Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: maps from 1956 on.

0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Vermilion 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 Vermilion Lake Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Vermilion Lake Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vermilion Lake Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vermilion 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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Places that used to be

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

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Vermillion Lake
1867–1871
Peyla
1907–1924
Carson Lake
1910–1953
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Peyla
Gone or out of use
Carson Lake Post Officepost officePeyla Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vermilion Lake Township
Old Vermilion LakeTown of Vermilion Lake

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

The story so far

Vermilion Lake Township, in brief

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

Vermilion Lake Township is a township in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 265 at the 2020 census. State Highways 1 (MN 1) and 169 (MN 169) are two of the main routes in the township. The unincorporated community of Peyla is located within Vermilion Lake Township. The town's name is a translation of the Ojibwe name for Lake Vermilion, Onamuni.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 278 to 265 (-5%).

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

Timeline

Vermilion Lake Township, 1867 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Vermillion Lake post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Vermillion Lake post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907Post officeThe Peyla post office opens
  6. 1910Post officeThe Carson Lake post office opens
  7. 1924Post officeThe Peyla post office closes
  8. 1953Post officeThe Carson Lake post office closes
  9. 1956On 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

Vermilion Lake Township on the map, 1956 to 1986

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

Vermilion Lake Township on the 1956 USGS mapVermilion Lake Township on the 1969 USGS mapVermilion Lake Township on the 1986 USGS map1956Tower 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 Vermilion Lake Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Kugler TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreenwood TownshipIts storyC−Pike Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Vermilion Lake 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.