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History · Bancroft Township

Bancroft Township’s post office opened in 1857, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Bancroft Township began

When was Bancroft Township founded?

1857

The Bancroft Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bancroft (1857), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 792169 years
Founding year: the first Bancroft Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bancroft 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 Bancroft Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Bancroft Township’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bancroft Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bancroft 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

Bancroft Township, in brief

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

Bancroft Township is a township in Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,065 at the 2000 census. Bancroft Township was organized in 1858, and named for George Bancroft, an American historian.

Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 976 to 792 (-19%).

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

Timeline

Bancroft Township, 1857 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Bancroft post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Bancroft post office closes
  5. 1954On 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

Bancroft Township on the map, 1954 to 1982

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

Bancroft Township on the 1954 USGS mapBancroft Township on the 1982 USGS map1954Albert Lea 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 Bancroft Township.

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Bancroft
Gone or out of use
Bancroft Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bancroft Township
Central LutheranEast FreebornItasca

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.

Albert Lea5 historic placesA−Clarks Grove1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBath TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townManchester TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlbert Lea TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRiceland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bancroft Township’s history

What year was Bancroft Township founded?

The Bancroft Township post office opened in 1857, 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.