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History · Minden Township

Minden Township’s post office opened in 1862, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

1862first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Minden Township began

When was Minden Township founded?

1862

The Minden Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Minden (1862), Cedar Dale (1868) and Palm Station (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 558164 years
Founding year: the first Minden Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Minden 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 Minden Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Minden Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Minden Township’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Minden Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Minden Township’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Minden
1862–1883
Cedar Dale
1868–1904
Palm Station
1882–1896
Minden City
1883–today
Palms
1896–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Minden CityPalmsPeatville
Gone or out of use
Cedardale Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Minden Township
Minden CitySaint Patricks

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Minden Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Minden Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Minden Township is a civil township of Sanilac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 558 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1862. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 545 to 558 (+2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Minden Township, 1862 to 1904

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1862Post officeThe Minden post office opens
  3. 1868Post officeThe Cedar Dale post office opens
  4. 1882Post officeThe Palm Station post office opens
  5. 1883Post officeThe Minden post office closes
  6. 1896Post officeThe Palm Station post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1904Post officeThe Cedar Dale post office closes
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 Minden Township

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

See all →
Frank MurphyU.S. Supreme Court justice from 1940 to 1949 · b. 1890
Helen Thompson GaigeAmerican herpetologist · b. 1890
J
Jon HorstAmerican basketball player · b. 1983
Cyrus K. BettisAmerican air racer · b. 1893
David C. ClarkAmerican politician · b. 1926
C
Colleen HoweSports agent · b. 1933
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Delaware TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWheatland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAustin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townParis TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Minden Township’s history

What year was Minden Township founded?

The Minden Township post office opened in 1862, 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 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.