The story
Read it all →How White Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of White Township.
White Township was named for an official at the local Kimberly Mining Company.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · White Township
27% of White Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #24 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: maps from 1954 on.
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About White Township’s history
How historic is White Township?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives White Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, White Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #24 of 273 in Minnesota. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of White Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194027.3% of homes (±7.6) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 3.2 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 92%
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 White Township’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 White 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 White Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s White Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of White Township’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start White Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how White Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Aurora
Palo
Pineville
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AuroraPaloPineville
Gone or out of use
Embarrass MinemineErie MinemineHudson PitminePalo Post Officepost officePineville Post Officepost officeSaint James MinemineStephens Minemine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside White Township
Czechoslovakian NationalForest HillRauha
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
White Township, 1903 to 1954
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Add from your albumOn the map
White Township on the map, 1954 to 1964
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of White Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1954Hibbing sheet · 1:250,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of White Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in White Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Height of Land Portage
Districts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to White Township
Nobody well known was born in White Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
F
Frank BrimsekAmerican ice hockey goaltender · b. 1915Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
BiwabikIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHoyt Lakes1 historic placeDBiwabik Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEmbarrass Township5 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townColvin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about White Township’s history
How does White Township rank for history?
White Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #24 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 White Township?
One place: the Height of Land Portage (listed 1992).
How old are the homes in White Township?
27% of White Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1958.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.