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History · Wood Lake

Wood Lake’s post office opened in 1879, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1962 on.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Wood Lake began

When was Wood Lake founded?

1879

The Wood Lake post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 381147 years
Founding year: the first Wood Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Wood Lake’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 Wood Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Wood Lake’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wood Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wood Lake’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

Wood Lake, in brief

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

Wood Lake Township is a township in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 220 at the 2000 census. Wood Lake Township was organized in 1873, and named after Wood Lake.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 439 to 381 (-13%).

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

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

Wood Lake on the map, 1962 to 1986

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

Wood Lake on the 1962 USGS mapWood Lake on the 1986 USGS map1962Wood Lake 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 Wood Lake.

Questions about Wood Lake’s history

What year was Wood Lake founded?

The Wood Lake post office opened in 1879, 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 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.