Graham Lakes Township, Minnesota
| Graham Lakes Township, Minnesota | |
|---|---|
| Township | |
 Graham Lakes Township, Minnesota
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| Coordinates: 43°47′35″N 95°30′31″W / 43.79306°N 95.50861°WCoordinates: 43°47′35″N 95°30′31″W / 43.79306°N 95.50861°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Minnesota |
| County | Nobles |
| Area | |
| • Total | 34.8 sq mi (90.1 km2) |
| • Land | 33.0 sq mi (85.5 km2) |
| • Water | 1.8 sq mi (4.7 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,437 ft (438 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 251 |
| • Density | 7.6/sq mi (2.9/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| FIPS code | 27-24848 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0664308 |
Graham Lakes Township is a township in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 251 at the 2000 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 34.8 square miles (90 km2), of which 33.0 square miles (85 km2) of it is land and 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2) of it (5.20%) is water. The major geographic features in Graham Lakes Township include East Graham Lake, West Graham Lake, Jack Lake, and Kinbrae Lake.
Main highways include:
Organization of Graham Lakes Township was approved by the Nobles County Board on April 11, 1871. The first township meeting occurred April 21, 1871. The township was named for East Graham Lake and West Graham Lake which are entirely within the township's borders. These lakes were first noted on Joseph Nicollet's 1842 map based upon his explorations of the late 1830s and early 1840s. Nicollet named the lakes after Joseph Duncan Graham. Graham served as a commissioner for the survey of the northeast segment of the boundary between the United States and Canada from 1840 until 1843.
In the month of May, 1867, a pioneer named Stephen Muck pushed out into the unsettled Graham Lakes region and squatted on land on the bank of West Graham Lake. When surveyed, this land proved to be on section 22 of Graham Lakes Township. There he built a log structure from timber growing near the lake, the first house of wood in the county. In the fall of 1867, Muck brought his family from Jackson County, Minnesota. He earned his livelihood by trapping for a few years, then turned to farming. He lived continuously on his farm from 1867 until the time of his death in 1897. Stephen Muck was the very first permanent resident of Nobles County.
The first town to appear on any map of Nobles County was a curious place called Gretchtown. According to an 1856 map - a map drawn 11 years before the arrival of Stephen Muck - Gretchtown was located on the south bank of West Graham Lake, very near to Muck's claim. Rumors of a railroad to be built through southwestern Minnesota had circulated in the 1850s, and even though no survey had been taken for the railroad, the town of Gretchtown had been created - at least on paper - to serve as a stopping point. When Nobles County was formally created by the Minnesota legislature on May 23, 1857, Gretchtown was briefly designated as the county seat of Nobles County, a county at that time without any residents.
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