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History · Charlestown Township

Charlestown Township’s post office opened in 1874, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Shady Lane Stock Farm. Below: maps from 1967 on.

1874first post office
1on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Charlestown Township began

When was Charlestown Township founded?

1874

The Charlestown Township post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Charlestown (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 178152 years
Founding year: the first Charlestown Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Charlestown 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 Charlestown Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Charlestown Township’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Charlestown Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Charlestown 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

Charlestown Township, in brief

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

Charlestown Township is one of the twenty-six townships of Redwood County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 217 at the 2000 census. Charlestown Township was organized in 1872, and named for Charles Porter, a pioneer settler.

Its first post office opened in 1874. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 208 to 178 (-14%).

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

Timeline

Charlestown Township, 1874 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Charlestown post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Charlestown post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1967On 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

Charlestown Township on the map, 1967 to 1986

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

Charlestown Township on the 1967 USGS mapCharlestown Township on the 1986 USGS map1967Sanborn 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 Charlestown Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Charlestown Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Shady Lane Stock Farm
Shady Lane Stock Farm
Buildings
All 1 listings
Shady Lane Stock FarmBuilding · listed 1979

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

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

1cemetery inside Charlestown Township
Germantown Evangelical United Methodist

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.

SanbornIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWillow Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLamberton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Star TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Charlestown Township’s history

What year was Charlestown Township founded?

The Charlestown Township post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Charlestown Township?

One place: the Shady Lane Stock Farm (listed 1979).

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 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.