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–Not graded
History · Mecan

Mecan’s post office opened in 1903, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1918 on.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mecan began

When was Mecan founded?

1903

The Mecan post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 752123 years
Founding year: the first Mecan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mecan’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 Mecan are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1984. Watch Mecan change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mecan’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mecan’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Mecan on the map, 1918 to 1984

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

Mecan on the 1918 USGS mapMecan on the 1963 USGS mapMecan on the 1984 USGS map1918Neshkoro 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 Mecan.

The story

How Mecan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mecan.

Read it all →

The name of the town is after Mecan River, which is a corruption of "Namayicun", from one of the Algonquian languages meaning "Sturgeoning Grounds" (cf. Ojibwe language: namekaan, "sturgeoning grounds"). However, Vogel (1991) cites the name to come from the Ojibwe word miikana meaning "road."

ChaptersEtymology

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mecan, 1903 to 1918

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Mecan post office opens
  3. 1906Post officeThe Mecan post office closes
  4. 1918On 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.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Mecan

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

See all →
Elda Emma AndersonAmerican physicist · b. 1899
William NighAmerican film director, writer and actor · b. 1881
Luther ReedAmerican film director and screenwrigter · b. 1888
Emma GillettFeminist law school teacher · b. 1852
Andy JorgensenAmerican politician · b. 1967
B
Bill ButlerAmerican football player born 1937 · b. 1937
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Mecan had its own post office from 1903 to 1906.

Mecan
1903–1906
19001960today
Gone or out of use
School Number 6schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 8school
1cemetery inside Mecan
Germania 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.

MarquetteIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPrincetonIts storyC+ShieldsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMontelloIts storyCNeshkoroIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mecan’s history

What year was Mecan founded?

The Mecan post office opened in 1903, 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 →
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 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.