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History · Red Lake Township

Red Lake Township’s post office opened in 1876, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1979 on.

1876first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Red Lake Township began

When was Red Lake Township founded?

1876

The Red Lake Township post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Red Lake (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 68150 years
Founding year: the first Red Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Red Lake Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Red Lake 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

Red Lake Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1876. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 68 in 2010, 68 in 2020.

Timeline

Red Lake Township, 1876 to 1979

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Red Lake post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915Post officeThe Red Lake post office closes
  5. 1979On 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

Red Lake Township on the map, 1979 to 1986

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

Red Lake Township on the 1979 USGS mapRed Lake Township on the 1986 USGS map1979Red Lake East 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 Red Lake Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Red Lakelocale
1cemetery inside Red Lake Township
Lutheran

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.

Smith TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrule TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOla TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPukwana TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Red Lake Township’s history

What year was Red Lake Township founded?

The Red Lake Township post office opened in 1876, 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.