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.