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ChesterTownHallPhoto: Mazzmn · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Chester Township

42% of Chester Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Bear Valley Grange Hall. Below: maps from 1951 on.

1on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Chester 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 Chester Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chester Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chester 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

Chester Township, in brief

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

Chester Township is a township in Wabasha County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 470 at the 2000 census. Chester Township was organized in 1858.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 455 to 415 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Chester Township, 1857 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Bear Valley post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Bear Valley post office closes
  5. 1951On 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

Chester Township on the map, 1951 to 1974

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

Chester Township on the 1951 USGS mapChester Township on the 1974 USGS map1951Lake City 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 Chester Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Chester 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
1989
Bear Valley Grange Hall
Bear Valley Grange Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Front Gabled Form1
Bear Valley Grange HallFront Gabled Form

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Chester Township

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

See all →
Mary Pat GleasonAmerican actress · b. 1950
R
Randy BreuerAmerican basketball player · b. 1960
Taylor HeiseAmerican ice hockey player · b. 2000
Frank Hinman WaskeyAmerican politician · b. 1875
G
Gerald HeaneyU.S. Army ranger, politician, attorney, and jud… · b. 1918
M
Mark McKenzieAmerican film composer · b. 1957
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Bear Valley
Gone or out of use
Bear Valley Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Chester Township
Bear ValleyChesterChesterSaint John's LutheranSaints Peter and Paul Catholic

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.

Mazeppa Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townZumbrota TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townZumbro Falls2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGillford TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBelvidere TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBellechesterIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMazeppa1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Chester Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Chester Township?

One place: the Bear Valley Grange Hall (listed 1989).

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 Wikidata (1), 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.