The Albion Township post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Albion (1858) and Granite Lake (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,264168 years
How historic is Albion Township?
C+
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Albion Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Albion Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Albion Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Albion Township’s overall grade.
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Albion Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Albion Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Albion
1858–1887
Granite Lake
1888–1903
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Albion CenterWest Albion
Gone or out of use
Albion Post Officepost officeGranite Lake Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Albion Township
AlamaaAlbionEvangelicalMount Herman
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Albion Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Albion Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Albion Township is a township in Wright County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,146 at the 2000 census. Albion Township was organized in 1858, and named Albion, the archaic name for England.
Its first post office opened in 1858. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,255 in 2010, 1,264 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Albion Township, 1858 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Albion Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Cokato sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Albion Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Albion Township
Nobody well known was born in Albion Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Albion Township post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Albion Township rank for history?
Albion Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Albion Township?
18% of Albion Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1972.
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).
From 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.
