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History · McKenzie Township

McKenzie Township’s post office opened in 1887

Most of McKenzie Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1951 on.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How McKenzie Township began

When was McKenzie Township founded?

1887

The McKenzie Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, McKenzie (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 114139 years
Founding year: the first McKenzie Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about McKenzie 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 McKenzie Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start McKenzie Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how McKenzie 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

McKenzie Township, in brief

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

McKenzie is an unincorporated community in McKenzie Township, Burleigh County, North Dakota, United States. It lies approximately 20 miles east of Bismarck along I-94/US 83. A post office called McKenzie was established in 1887, and remained in operation until 1965. The community was named after early North Dakota politician Alexander McKenzie.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 88 to 114 (+30%).

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

Timeline

McKenzie Township, 1887 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe McKenzie post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1965Post officeThe McKenzie 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

McKenzie Township on the map, 1951 to 1975

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

McKenzie Township on the 1951 USGS mapMcKenzie Township on the 1975 USGS map1951McKenzie sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of McKenzie Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
McKenzie
1cemetery inside McKenzie Township
Pleasant View

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.

Menoken Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSibley Butte TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLogan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSterling TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about McKenzie Township’s history

What year was McKenzie Township founded?

The McKenzie Township post office opened in 1887, 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 →
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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 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.