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History · Bristol Township

Bristol Township’s post office opened in 1872, and 61% of its homes were built before 1940

1872first post office
0on the National Register
61%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Bristol Township began

When was Bristol Township founded?

1872

The Bristol Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bristol Centre (1861) and Bristol (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 421154 years
Founding year: the first Bristol Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Bristol Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bristol 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

Bristol Township, in brief

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

Bristol Township is a township in Fillmore County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 499 at the 2000 census. Bristol Township was organized in 1858, and named after Bristol, in England.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 396 to 421 (+6%).

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.

Granger
1857–today
Bristol Centre
1861–1867
Bristol
1872–1904
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BristolGranger
Gone or out of use
Bristol Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bristol Township
Bristol CenterBristol GroveOak HillRiceSaint Mathews

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

Timeline

Bristol Township, 1857 to 1904

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Granger post office opens
  3. 1861Post officeThe Bristol Centre post office opens
  4. 1867Post officeThe Bristol Centre post office closes
  5. 1872Post officeThe Bristol post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1904Post officeThe Bristol post office closes
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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Famous people

Famous people close to Bristol Township

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

See all →
E
Ellen ChurchAmerican pilot, flight attendant and nurse · b. 1904
Charles BowersAmerican cartoonist and actor · b. 1889
Arthur B. LanglieAmerican politician · b. 1900
Edwin Vincent O'HaraCatholic archbishop · b. 1881
T
Tami HoagAmerican writer · b. 1959
Malcolm WilliamsActor, Composer · b. 1870
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

York TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCarimona Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHarmony Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bristol Township’s history

What year was Bristol Township founded?

The Bristol Township post office opened in 1872, 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 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.