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History · Turtle Lake

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

Its Register listing is the Schlafmann Barn.

1886first post office
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Photo: In memoriam afiler · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Turtle Lake began

When was Turtle Lake founded?

1886

The Turtle Lake post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1904.

2020 census: 542140 years
Founding year: the first Turtle Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1904.

What stands out about Turtle Lake’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 Turtle Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Turtle Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Turtle Lake’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

Turtle Lake, in brief

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

Turtle Lake is a city in McLean County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 542 at the 2020 census. Turtle Lake was founded in 1905. A segment of the North Country National Scenic Trail is routed just to the north and east of Turtle Lake within the Brekken-Holmes Recreation Area. This trail segment can be hiked as a point-to-point hike or as a 9.2-mile loop hike from the ND Highway 41 trailhead parking area (map).

Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 581 to 542 (-7%).

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

By decade

Turtle Lake, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Turtle Lake, North Dakota2008Turtle Lake, North DakotaTurtle Lake, North Dakota2008Turtle Lake, North DakotaTurtle Lake, North Dakota2008Turtle Lake, North DakotaTurtle Lake, North Dakota2008Turtle Lake, North DakotaTurtle Lake, North Dakota2008Turtle Lake, North DakotaTurtle Lake, North Dakota2008Turtle Lake, North Dakota
On the National Register

1 historic place in Turtle Lake

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2022
Schlafmann Barn
All 1 listings
Schlafmann BarnBuilding · listed 2022

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Turtle Lake

Nobody well known was born in Turtle Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Bruce PetersonAmerican test pilot · b. 1933
A
Alon WielandAmerican politician in the state of North Dakota · b. 1935
Gary EminethAmerican politician · b. 1958
Homer N. WallinUnited States Navy admiral · b. 1893
L
Layton FreborgAmerican politician · b. 1933

Questions about Turtle Lake’s history

What year was Turtle Lake founded?

The Turtle Lake post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1904.

What is on the National Register in Turtle Lake?

One place: the Schlafmann Barn (listed 2022).

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.