Cascade Township’s post office opened in 1867, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #145 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Cascade Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the St. Mary's Hospital Dairy Farmstead. Below: maps from 1939 on.
The Cascade Township post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cascade (1867), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,837159 years
How historic is Cascade Township?
C+
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Cascade Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Cascade Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cascade Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #145 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cascade Township’s overall grade.
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 Cascade Township’s 7.1 sits above most of its state (69% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Cascade Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cascade Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Cascade Township is a township in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,183 at the 2000 census. Cascade Township was organized in 1859, and named after Cascade Creek.
Its first post office opened in 1867. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,815 in 2010, 2,837 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Cascade Township, 1867 to 1939
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cascade Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1939Rochester 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 Cascade Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Cascade Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
The Cascade Township post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cascade Township rank for history?
Cascade Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #145 of 273 in Minnesota. 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 Cascade Township?
One place: the St. Mary's Hospital Dairy Farmstead (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Cascade Township?
3% of Cascade Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1991.
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), 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.
