The Swan Lake Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Swan Lake (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 264157 years
Founding year: the first Swan Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Swan Lake Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Swan Lake Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1898Parker sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Swan Lake Township.
It is called Swan Lake because it is shaped like a swan. From the 1920s until the late 1970s there was a resort at Swan Lake on the south side of the lake. It included a pavilion that sold food and it had a band stand, dance floor and roller skating rink on the same floor. Cabins were rented out and bands performed at the pavilion. There was a bath house to rent swim suits, several boats for rent and bait could also be bought. The pavilion was built after World War I and owned by the Ebersen family. On 2/1/1921 the pavilion was purchased by Peter N. Hansen and his wife Claudine whose children Erna, Art, Lorna, and Earl grew up on the resort. They owned it until about 1946. Some other owners of the Swan Lake Resort over the years were a Bill and Mary Myreholt and Waldo and Marilyn Jorgensen. The cabins were sold to individuals during the 60's and 70's. The pavilion burned down around…
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 Wikipedia, 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.
