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History · Ashland Township

Ashland Township’s post office opened in 1856, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1966 on.

1856first post office
0on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ashland Township began

When was Ashland Township founded?

1856

The Ashland Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Ashland (1856) and Vlasaty (1896), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 308170 years
Founding year: the first Ashland Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ashland 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 Ashland Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ashland Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Ashland Township’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ashland Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ashland 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 and places now gone

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

Ashland
1856–1872
Vlasaty
1896–1906
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Vlasaty
Gone or out of use
Vlasaty Post Officepost office

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

The story so far

Ashland Township, in brief

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

Ashland Township is a township in Dodge County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 367 at the 2000 census. Ashland Township was organized in 1858.

Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 319 to 308 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Ashland Township, 1856 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Ashland post office opens
  3. 1872Post officeThe Ashland post office closes
  4. 1896Post officeThe Vlasaty post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906Post officeThe Vlasaty post office closes
  7. 1966On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Ashland Township on the map, 1966 to 1985

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

Ashland Township on the 1966 USGS mapAshland Township on the 1985 USGS map1966Hayfield 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 Ashland Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Ashland Township

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

See all →
M
Milton L. HumasonAmerican astronomer · b. 1891
S
Shirley Ardell MasonAmerican artist · b. 1923
Arnold BlanchAmerican painter · b. 1896
Perry Greeley HoldenAmerican agronomist · b. 1865
Willis KienholzAmerican football player and coach · b. 1875
R
Ron KrausAmerican politician · b. 1956
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dodge CenterIts storyC+Wasioja Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHayfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCanisteo TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRipley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ashland Township’s history

What year was Ashland Township founded?

The Ashland Township post office opened in 1856, 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 →
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 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.