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Clitherall, MinnesotaPhoto: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Clitherall Township

Clitherall Township dates to 1864, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1900.

1864founded
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Clitherall Township began

When was Clitherall Township founded?

1864

Clitherall Township dates its founding to 1864 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 167 in 19002020 census: 495162 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1897.The full story ↓

What stands out about Clitherall 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 Clitherall Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Clitherall Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clitherall Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Clitherall Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Clitherall Township.

Read it all →

The area around Clitherall Lake was the site of one of the earliest permanent European‑American settlements in Otter Tail County after the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862, when a group of Cutlerite Latter Day Saints migrated from Iowa to western Minnesota in 1865 to establish an agricultural colony on the lake’s north shore. The original settlement, often referred to as the Mormon or Cutlerite colony at Clitherall Lake, was organized around a communal religious community that emphasized self‑sufficiency, cooperative distribution of harvests, and peaceful relations with neighboring Indigenous communities.

ChaptersCutlerite Colony and Founding Families

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Clitherall Township, 1864 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864
    FoundingClitherall Township is established
  3. 1897Post officeThe Axel post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Post officeThe Axel post office closes
  6. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Clitherall Township, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Lakes Community Church2019Lakes Community ChurchCommunity of Christ Church2019Community of Christ ChurchClitherall, Minnesota2019Clitherall, MinnesotaMN210 West2018MN210 WestMNMap-doton-Clitherall2005MNMap-doton-Clitherall
On the map

Clitherall Township on the map, 1969 to 1986

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

Clitherall Township on the 1969 USGS mapClitherall Township on the 1986 USGS map1969Eagle Lake 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 Clitherall Township.

People over time

Clitherall Township, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 187

Between 62 and 187 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clitherall Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Axel Post Officepost officeSchool Number 1398schoolSchool Number 257school
1cemetery inside Clitherall Township
Mount Pleasant

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.

Battle Lake2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEagle Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNidaros TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTordenskjold TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEverts TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Clitherall Township’s history

What year was Clitherall Township founded?

In 1864, according to Wikidata. Clitherall Township’s post office opened in 1897, and the census of 1900 counted 167 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.