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History · Lankin

Lankin’s post office opened in 1905, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1910.

1905first post office
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Lankin began

When was Lankin founded?

1905

The Lankin post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Young (1898), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 341 in 19102020 census: 102121 years
Founding year: the first Lankin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lankin’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 Lankin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Lankin’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lankin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lankin’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
The story

How Lankin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lankin.

Read it all →

Lankin was laid out in 1905 when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office has been in operation at Lankin since 1905. John Lankin, the first postmaster, gave the city his name.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lankin, 1898 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Young post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905Post officeThe Young post office closes
  5. 1905Post officeThe Lankin post office opens
  6. 1913Born hereHerm Witasek is born here
  7. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lankin, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Lions Den - Lankin, North Dakota 07-26-20092009Lions Den - Lankin, North Dakota 07-26-2009NDMap-doton-Lankin2004NDMap-doton-Lankin
On the map

Lankin on the map, 1972 to 1985

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

Lankin on the 1972 USGS mapLankin on the 1985 USGS map1972Lankin 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 Lankin.

People over time

Lankin, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 341

Between 98 and 341 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Lankin’s post office has been open since 1905. Another post office, Young, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Young
1898–1905
Lankin
1905–today
18901960today
1cemetery inside Lankin
Saint Josephs

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

Questions about Lankin’s history

What year was Lankin founded?

The Lankin post office opened in 1905, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.