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History · Lee Township

Lee Township’s post office opened in 1881

Below: maps from 1967 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lee Township began

When was Lee Township founded?

1881

The Lee Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Lee (1881) and Kloten (1907), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 41145 years
Founding year: the first Lee Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Lee Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lee 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, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Lee
1881–1905
Kloten
1907–1987
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Kloten
Gone or out of use
Leelocale
1cemetery inside Lee Township
Valley Grove

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

The story so far

Lee Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 42 to 41 (-2%).

Timeline

Lee Township, 1881 to 1987

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Lee post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905Post officeThe Lee post office closes
  5. 1907Post officeThe Kloten post office opens
  6. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1987Post officeThe Kloten post office closes
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

Lee Township on the map, 1967 to 1985

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

Lee Township on the 1967 USGS mapLee Township on the 1985 USGS map1967Kloten 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 Lee Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Nesheim Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOra TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townField TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLenora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPilot Mound TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lee Township’s history

What year was Lee Township founded?

The Lee Township post office opened in 1881, 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.