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History · Glen Elder Township

Glen Elder Township’s post office opened in 1870, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
1on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Glen Elder Township began

When was Glen Elder Township founded?

1870

The Glen Elder Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 165 in 18802020 census: 432156 years
Founding year: the first Glen Elder Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Glen Elder Township’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 Glen Elder Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18943 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1980. Watch Glen Elder Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 617 in 1930; 362 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Glen Elder Township’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Glen Elder Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Glen Elder Township’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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On the map

Glen Elder Township on the map, 1894 to 1980

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

Glen Elder Township on the 1894 USGS mapGlen Elder Township on the 1962 USGS mapGlen Elder Township on the 1980 USGS map1894Mankato sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Glen Elder Township.

People over time

Glen Elder Township, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 617

Peaked at 617 in 1930; 362 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Glen Elder Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Glen Elder Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Glen Elder Township.

Read it all →

Glen Elder was originally known as West Hampton, and under the latter name was laid out and platted in 1871 by promoters who built a large gristmill at the site. The town later adopted the name Glen Elder when the post office of that name was moved there from its former location a half mile north. The present name is after a grove of box elder trees. Glen Elder incorporated in 1879.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Glen Elder Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
KSMap-doton-Glen Elder2004KSMap-doton-Glen Elder
On the National Register

1 historic place in Glen Elder Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Concordia Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Glen Elder Township
GlenwoodGranite CreekGrellett

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.

Cawker Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAthens TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWalnut Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSolomon Rapids Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Glen Elder Township’s history

What year was Glen Elder Township founded?

The Glen Elder Township post office opened in 1870, 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 →
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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 (1), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.