The story
Read it all →How Aastad Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Aastad Township.
Aastad Township was organized in 1871, and named for Gilbert Aastad, a Norwegian settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Aastad Township
Aastad Township’s post office opened in 1880, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1910 on.
1880first post office
0on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Aastad Township began
When was Aastad Township founded?
1880
The Aastad Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Aastad (1880) and Squier (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 191146 years
Founding year: the first Aastad Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Aastad 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 Aastad Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Aastad Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Aastad Township’s homes were built before 1949.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Aastad Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Aastad Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Aastad
Squier
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Squier
Gone or out of use
School Number 118schoolSchool Number 119schoolSchool Number 157schoolSchool Number 64schoolSquier Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Aastad Township
Aastad
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Aastad Township, 1880 to 1910
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 albumOn the map
Aastad Township on the map, 1910 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Aastad Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1910Wendell sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Aastad Township.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Tumuli TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBuse TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWestern TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStony Brook TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Aastad Township’s history
What year was Aastad Township founded?
The Aastad Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.