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History · Adams Township

Adams Township dates to 1868, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Freund Store. Below: maps from 1985 on and the census since 1880.

1868founded
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Adams Township began

When was Adams Township founded?

1868

Adams Township dates its founding to 1868 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 96 in 18802020 census: 443158 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1891.The full story ↓

What stands out about Adams 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 Adams Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Adams Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Adams 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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The story

How Adams Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Adams Township.

Read it all →

The village of Adams was platted on January 30, 1868, by Selah Chamberlain. A two-room public school was built in 1869 and was later expanded to four rooms. The village was officially incorporated on March 2, 1887. A water works system was installed in the summer of 1897. A volunteer fire department was established as Adams Hose Co. No. 1 in 1898. A sewage system was installed in 1902. A Catholic school was built in 1903 and roughly half of the public school students started attending there, greatly relieving overcrowding. The sewage system was updated in 1958. The town is in the Southland school district (which includes Southland High School), and is home to the varsity fields for the teams.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Adams Township, 1868 to 1985

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868
    FoundingAdams Township is established
  3. 1891Post officeThe Johnsburg post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Johnsburg post office closes
  6. 1985On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Adams Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Adams, Minnesota2023Adams, Minnesota
On the map

Adams Township on the map in 1985

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Adams Township.

Adams Township on the 1985 USGS map1985Austin sheet · 1:100,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Adams Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Freund Store
Freund Store
Buildings
All 1 listings
Freund StoreBuilding · listed 1986

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

People over time

Adams Township, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 806

Between 96 and 806 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Johnsburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Johnsburg
Gone or out of use
Johnsburg Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Adams Township
Little Cedar

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Marshall TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLodi TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNevada TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Adams Township’s history

What year was Adams Township founded?

In 1868, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Adams Township’s post office opened in 1891, and the census of 1880 counted 96 people here.

What is on the National Register in Adams Township?

One place: the Freund Store (listed 1986).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.