Clarks Grove was laid out in 1890, about ten years before the railroad was extended to that point. It was incorporated as a village on February 27, 1920, and had a station of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, sometimes listed as James. Its post office began in 1857 with Clark as postmaster.
Clarks Grove Cooperative Creamery, founded in 1890 by Danish American farmers, was one of the first successful cooperative creameries in the state.
In March 2017, buildings in the community were damaged by a tornado.
Passages that mention Clarks Grove, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Freeborn County, Minnesota1911 · page 460Read the page →
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Clarks Grove Creamery Association. Among those of a small colony of Danes, who had moved from southern Wisconsin to Clarks Grove in this county in 1864, was Hans Peter- Jensen, who bought a farm in Bancroft township just south of the present village of Clarks Grove. In 1884 he went back to Denmark for a visit, and there he first heard of the cream separator and cooperative creamery. When he returned home he frequently discussed these matters with his neighbors, many of whom were
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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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
