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History · Amherst Township

Amherst Township’s post office opened in 1870, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1965 on.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Amherst Township began

When was Amherst Township founded?

1870

The Amherst Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Amherst (1870) and Henrytown (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 409156 years
Founding year: the first Amherst Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Amherst 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 Amherst Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Amherst Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Amherst Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Amherst Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Amherst 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
The story so far

Amherst Township, in brief

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

Amherst Township ( AM-hərst) is a township in Fillmore County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 405 at the 2000 census. Amherst Township was organized in 1858, and named after Amherst, Ohio, the native home of the wife of an early settler.

Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 378 to 409 (+8%).

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

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.

Amherst
1870–1902
Henrytown
1883–1902
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AmherstHenrytown
Gone or out of use
Amherst Post Officepost officeHenrytown Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Amherst Township
HenryHenrytown LutheranHighland

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

Timeline

Amherst Township, 1870 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Amherst post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Henrytown post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902Post officeThe Amherst post office closes
  6. 1902Post officeThe Henrytown post office closes
  7. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
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On the map

Amherst Township on the map, 1965 to 1990

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

Amherst Township on the 1965 USGS mapAmherst Township on the 1984 USGS mapAmherst Township on the 1990 USGS map1965Lanesboro sheet · 1:24,000

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Preble TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPreston TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHolt TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCanton Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Amherst Township’s history

What year was Amherst Township founded?

The Amherst 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 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.