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History · Balsam Lake

Balsam Lake dates to 1870, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Balsam Lake was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Polk County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1910.

1870founded
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Balsam Lake began

When was Balsam Lake founded?

1870

Balsam Lake dates its founding to 1870 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 279 in 19102020 census: 934156 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓

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

Start Balsam Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Balsam 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

How Balsam Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Balsam Lake.

Read it all →

The area in and around Balsam Lake was originally inhabited by a large band of Chippewa Indians. They referred to the area as "Innenehinduc," which means "place of the evergreen." This may have been due to the large amount of Canadian Yew, an evergreen shrub, which grew in abundance there.

The town was organized on January 8, 1870, and was named after the lake that lay within its borders. The first businesses included a blacksmith shop, a bank, a creamery, two sawmills, a hardware store, and a general store. Governmental buildings included a courthouse and a log schoolhouse.

Today, Balsam Lake is the home of the Polk County Government Center.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Balsam Lake, 1870 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870
    FoundingBalsam Lake is established
  3. 1871Post officeThe Balsam Lake post office opens
  4. 1899BuiltPolk County Courthouse is built
  5. 20th century
  6. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Balsam Lake, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Balsam Lake Wisconsin Water Tower2016Balsam Lake Wisconsin Water TowerBalsam Lake Wisconsin Sign WIS462016Balsam Lake Wisconsin Sign WIS46Balsam Lake Wisconsin Downtown WIS462016Balsam Lake Wisconsin Downtown WIS46
On the map

Balsam Lake on the map, 1950 to 1974

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

Balsam Lake on the 1950 USGS mapBalsam Lake on the 1974 USGS map1950Balsam Lake 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 Balsam Lake.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Balsam 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
1982
Polk County Courthouse
Polk County Courthouse, built 1899
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Richardsonian Romanesque1
Polk County CourthouseRichardsonian Romanesque · Built 1899

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

People over time

Balsam Lake, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,009

Between 251 and 1,009 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Balsam Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

MilltownIts storyC

Questions about Balsam Lake’s history

What year was Balsam Lake founded?

In 1870, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Balsam Lake’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1910 counted 279 people here.

What is on the National Register in Balsam Lake?

One place: the Polk County Courthouse (listed 1982).

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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.