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History · Wykoff

Wykoff’s post office opened in 1871, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 17 buildings. Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
2on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Wykoff began, and where its name came from

When was Wykoff founded?

1871

The Wykoff post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Free Soil (1858), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 272 in 18802020 census: 432155 years

How did Wykoff get its name?

Wykoff was named for Cyrus G. Wykoff, a railroad surveyor and early landowner.

Founding year: the first Wykoff post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

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

Start Wykoff’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wykoff’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

How Wykoff came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wykoff.

Read it all →

Fannie Mahood Heath the "Flower lady of North Dakota" was born here in 1864. Wykoff was platted in 1871. It was named for Cyrus G. Wykoff, a railroad surveyor and early landowner. A post office has been in operation at Wykoff since 1871. The town was incorporated on March 8, 1876.

Much of its downtown, on Gold Street, is designated as part of the Wykoff Commercial Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Wykoff in 1912

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

Early History. Wykoff was projected simultaneously with the coming of the railroad and was platted two years later. The land was originally pre-empted in June, 1856, by P. H. Bartlett.
History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1)1912 · page 374Read the page →
Read the text

Early History. Wykoff was projected simultaneously with the coming of the railroad and was platted two years later. The land was originally pre-empted in June, 1856, by P. H. Bartlett.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Wykoff. The public supply at Wykoff is derived from a Well 600 feet deep, which has been pumped at the rate of 180 gallons a minute. The water is reported to stand 300 feet below the surface. It is used by most of the people for domestic purposes.
History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1)1912 · page 516Read the page →
Read the text

Wykoff. The public supply at Wykoff is derived from a Well 600 feet deep, which has been pumped at the rate of 180 gallons a minute. The water is reported to stand 300 feet below the surface. It is used by most of the people for domestic purposes.

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

Wykoff, 1858 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Free Soil post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Free Soil post office closes
  4. 1871Post officeThe Wykoff post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Wykoff, decade by decade

Today2 recent
FrancisBartlettHouse2009FrancisBartlettHouseMNMap-doton-Wykoff2005MNMap-doton-Wykoff
On the map

Wykoff on the map, 1965 to 1985

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

Wykoff on the 1965 USGS mapWykoff on the 1985 USGS map1965Wykoff 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 Wykoff.

On the National Register

2 listings protect 18 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
18
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Francis H. Bartlett House
Francis H. Bartlett HouseWykoff Commercial Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

French Second Empire1
Queen Anne1
Classical Revival1
Late Victorian1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Francis H. Bartlett HouseFrench Second Empire
All 2 listings
Wykoff Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1994

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

People over time

Wykoff, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 521

Between 272 and 521 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Wykoff

Nobody well known was born in Wykoff itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Richard Warren SearsAmerican businessman · b. 1863
Arthur B. LanglieAmerican politician · b. 1900
Edwin Vincent O'HaraCatholic archbishop · b. 1881
John Paul GoodeAmerican cartographer · b. 1862
H
Henrietta Melia LarsonAmerican historian, 1894-1983 · b. 1894
A
Agnes LarsonAmerican historian · b. 1892
Places that used to be

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

Wykoff’s post office has been open since 1871. Another post office, Free Soil, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Free Soil
1858–1871
Wykoff
1871–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Wykoff Mobile Home Park IWykoff Mobile Home Park II
Gone or out of use
Wykofflocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wykoff
Saint JohnsSaint Kilian's

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

Questions about Wykoff’s history

What year was Wykoff founded?

The Wykoff post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Wykoff?

Two places: the Francis H. Bartlett House (listed 1984) and the Wykoff Commercial Historic District (1994).

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.