Facts and Figures

Lent Township is bordered on the north by the City of North Branch at 360th Street; on the west by the communities of Oxford Township in Isanti County and Linwood Township in Anoka County at Elmcrest Avenue/Lyons Street; on the southern boundaries by the City of Wyoming; and on the eastern side by Chisago Lakes Township and Chisago City. Lent Township encompasses the City of Stacy and is one of nine townships located in Chisago County, Minnesota.

The Township of Lent was organized as a civil township under applicable laws of the State of Minnesota in 1870. The Township is governed by an elected Board of Supervisors, an appointed Clerk, and an elected Treasurer. Police protection in Lent Township is provided by the Chisago County Sheriff’s department.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Lent’s population was 3091 with 1109 households. 23 percent of Minnesota’s population resides in townships. There are 1786 townships, 861 cities and 87 counties in Minnesota.

The Township of Lent was originally a full 36 square miles, but through annexation agreements with Chisago City in 2005 and the City of Stacy in 2008, Lent’s total square mileage has been decreased. While the amount of square footage has decrease, the miles of township roads have increased with the addition of new roads to serve the housing developments which sprang up rapidly in the 1970’s and again in the housing boom of 1990’s. In 2010, Lent became responsible for a section of County Road 80 when Chisago County turned it back to a township road because the traffic use had changed from a county thoroughfare to mainly serving the residents along that road.

In 2011, Lent Township officials are responsible for over 50 miles of roads within the boundaries of Lent Township. (There are approximately 56,000 miles of township roads with 6,000 bridges in Minnesota. This comprises 43 percent of the 131,700 total roadways in Minnesota.)

The main north/south road through the township has had many names over the years, and you can still find references to those names, depending on your sources. Currently, the road is known as Forest Boulevard and Chisago County Highway 30. Previously, it was State Highway 61, and prior to that, it was Railroad Avenue East. On the west side of the freeway, you can traverse the entire length of Lent Township on Falcon Avenue, portions of which are maintained by the county or the township.

The main east/west roads are County Roads 19 which extends from Anoka County, with entrances to Interstate 35, through the City of Stacy and Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area, across the Sunrise River and eastward towards Chisago City; and County Road 18, which starts at Forest Boulevard, winds east past the Lent Town Hall at 33155 Hemingway Avenue and ends with the intersection of County Road 14, which will lead you to the Chisago County seat in Center City. <click for GIS map>

Commuting to the Twin Cities takes less than an hour when traveling south on I-35, which bisects the township. When it’s time to ‘get away’, I-35 takes you north to Duluth and the scenic North Shore of Lake Superior.

For information regarding how Lent Township roads were named, please read the article submitted by a local resident.

History

Lent Township was named for the Lendt family who emigrated from Germany in the mid 1800’s. In America, the family dropped the silent “d” from their name and was henceforth known as Lent.

Chisago County plotted out Lent Township in 1870 and from then until 1882, people in the township attended Wyoming Township meetings.

The first annual meeting of Lent Township was held in March of 1882. A total of 11 people attended the meeting and elected three supervisors, a clerk, and a treasurer. The budget for the year was set at $300, $150 for roads and $150 for town purposes.

Throughout the years, Township meetings were held at many places including the Stacy School House-34, John Henry’s Store, J. Dyorman’s Hall, Sherman and Son Store, McCurdy’s Store and the office of F.J. Lilja in Stacy. In 1935, an agreement was made allowing the Lent to use the Stacy Hall by paying $150 for the first five years. The next 25 years were rent free.
On June 18, 1969, the Township purchased five acres of land near the center of the township for $2,000 from Virgil Peterson. The plan was to build a town hall on the property. Nothing came of this and a ball field was made on part of the property.

At the Township’s Annual Meeting on March 12, 1974, a motion was made to sell bonds not to exceed $75,000 for a 40x60 ft building. The motion was defeated by 145 to 52. In 1979, the Township re-activated the building committee. Members were Gene Olson, James Fox, Pat McBride, Milt Patrick, Marlene Johnson, Judy Damman, Tony Matkaiti, and Darla Schroeder. After looking at various sites and building plans, the committee recommended building an 85x110 ft steel structure multi-purpose building.

A public meeting was held on the proposed building on February 16, 1980. However, at the annual meeting on March 11, 1980, residents voted 84 to 84 on a motion to spend up to $150,000 for the construction of a Town Hall for Lent.

The committee went back to work holding another public meeting and another vote. This time, the motion passed 97 to 72. A bond election held September 11, 1980 and voters approved the issuance of $95,000 in general obligation bonds to build the Lent Town Hall. Bids for the project were let on September 23, 1980 and current Town Hall was built at 33155 Hemingway Ave.