The story
Read it all →How Bridgewater Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Bridgewater Township.
The first settlement at Bridgewater Township was made in 1853.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
BHistory
History · Bridgewater Township
13% of Bridgewater Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Drake, Edwin S., Farmhouse. Below: maps from 1960 on.
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Bridgewater Township’s history
How historic is Bridgewater Township?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Bridgewater Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bridgewater Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bridgewater Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194012.8% of homes (±3.5) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 5.3 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
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 Bridgewater Township’s 5.3 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Bridgewater Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Bridgewater Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bridgewater Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Bridgewater Township, 1889 to 1960
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1889Post officeThe Berg post office opens
- 20th century
- 1901Post officeThe Berg post office closes
- 1960
On 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 albumOn the map
Bridgewater Township on the map, 1960 to 1991
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bridgewater Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1960Northfield sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bridgewater Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Bridgewater 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
1982
Drake, Edwin S., Farmhouse
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Bridgewater Township
Nobody well known was born in Bridgewater Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Berg, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Comus
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bridgewater Township
ForestRolling Green
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.
Questions about Bridgewater Township’s history
How does Bridgewater Township rank for history?
Bridgewater Township is more historic than 60% 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.
What is on the National Register in Bridgewater Township?
One place: the Drake, Edwin S., Farmhouse (listed 1982).
How old are the homes in Bridgewater Township?
13% of Bridgewater Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1977.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.