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History · Blanchard Township

Blanchard Township’s post office opened in 1880

Most of Blanchard Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1947. Below: maps from 1968 on.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
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Photo: The original uploader was Chicago103 at English Wikipedia.; original photo by afiler · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Blanchard Township began

When was Blanchard Township founded?

1880

The Blanchard Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1881. Another post office, Blanchard (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 67146 years
Founding year: the first Blanchard Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1881.

What stands out about Blanchard 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 Blanchard Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Blanchard Township’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blanchard Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blanchard 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

Blanchard Township, in brief

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

Blanchard is a census-designated place in Blanchard Township, Traill County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 16 at the 2020 census. Blanchard is near the North Dakota-Minnesota border, near the junction of state highways 18 and 200. The KVLY-TV mast was the tallest man-made structure in the Western Hemisphere until 2019. It stands near Blanchard. The mast is used to transmit television broadcasts from the Fargo station KVLY-TV and was the tallest man-made structure in the world from 1963 to 1974 and again from 1991 to 2008. Similarly, the KRDK-TV mast, the tallest man-made structure in the United States, stands 6 miles (9.7 km) from Blanchard, near Galesburg.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 87 to 67 (-23%).

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

Timeline

Blanchard Township, 1880 to 1976

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Blanchard post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1976Post officeThe Blanchard post office closes
By decade

Blanchard Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Blanchard2013BlanchardBlanchardND2006BlanchardNDBlanchard, North Dakota2006Blanchard, North DakotaBlanchard Bridge, North Dakota2006Blanchard Bridge, North Dakota
On the map

Blanchard Township on the map, 1968 to 1985

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

Blanchard Township on the 1968 USGS mapBlanchard Township on the 1985 USGS map1968Galesburg SE 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 Blanchard Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Blanchard

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.

Norman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreenfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBloomfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMayville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Blanchard Township’s history

What year was Blanchard Township founded?

The Blanchard Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1881.

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 (4), 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.