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History · Chester Township

22% of Chester Township’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
22%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.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Chester Township.
★ 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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Espetveh
1897–1910
Griebrok
1901–1918
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Espetveh Post Officepost officeGriebrok Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Chester Township
Valley LutheranWest Valle

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

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 Polk County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 79 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Grand Forks-ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 75 to 96 (+28%).

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

Timeline

Chester Township, 1897 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Espetveh post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Post officeThe Griebrok post office opens
  5. 1910Post officeThe Espetveh post office closes
  6. 1918Post officeThe Griebrok 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 Chester Township

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

See all →
Arnie JohnsonNational Basketball League player · b. 1920
Jan NarvesonCanadian philosopher · b. 1936
Lily HansonAmerican comedian · b. 1983
E
Ed WidsethAmerican football player · b. 1910
Lorie Skjerven GildeaAmerican judge · b. 1961
S
Shirley WinsleyAmerican politician · b. 1934
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hill River TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLambert TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGully TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEquality Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTrailIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Chester Township’s history

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.