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History · Crofte Township

Crofte Township’s post office opened in 1886, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1979 on.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Crofte Township began

When was Crofte Township founded?

1886

The Crofte Township post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Crofte (1886) and Rawlings (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 133140 years
Founding year: the first Crofte Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Crofte 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 Crofte Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Crofte Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Crofte Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Crofte Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Crofte
1886–1900
Rawlings
1898–1901
Baldwin
1901–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Baldwin
1cemetery inside Crofte Township
Baldwin

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

The story so far

Crofte Township, in brief

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

Crofte Township is a township in Burleigh County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 133 at the 2020 census. A portion of the unincorporated community of Baldwin lies within Crofte Township.

Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 199 to 133 (-33%).

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

Timeline

Crofte Township, 1886 to 1979

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Crofte post office opens
  3. 1898Post officeThe Rawlings post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Crofte post office closes
  6. 1901Post officeThe Rawlings post office closes
  7. 1901Post officeThe Baldwin post office opens
  8. 1979On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Crofte Township on the map in 1979

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Crofte Township.

Crofte Township on the 1979 USGS map1979Baldwin 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 Crofte Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Glenview TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCromwell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Crofte Township’s history

What year was Crofte Township founded?

The Crofte Township post office opened in 1886, 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 →
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). 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.