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History · Elms Township

Half of Elms Township’s homes were built after 1977

Most of Elms Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1949 on.

0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory

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

Start Elms Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elms 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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Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

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

Jefferson
1904–1905
Forfar
1905–1907
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Forfar

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

The story so far

Elms Township, in brief

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

Elms Township is a civil township in Bottineau County in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2010 census, its population was 57.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 57 in 2010, 58 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Elms Township, 1904 to 1949

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Jefferson post office opens
  3. 1905Post officeThe Jefferson post office closes
  4. 1905Post officeThe Forfar post office opens
  5. 1907Post officeThe Forfar post office closes
  6. 1940Born hereDavid O'Connell is born here
  7. 1949On 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.
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On the map

Elms Township on the map, 1949 to 1971

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

Elms Township on the 1949 USGS mapElms Township on the 1954 USGS mapElms Township on the 1971 USGS map1949Glenburn 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 Elms Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lansford TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEnsign TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMount Rose TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChatfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Elms Township’s history

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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.