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History · Cornish Township

Cornish Township’s post office opened in 1869, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1953 on.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Cornish Township began

When was Cornish Township founded?

1869

The Cornish Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cornish (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 241157 years
Founding year: the first Cornish Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cornish 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 Cornish Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cornish Township’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cornish Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cornish 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 so far

Cornish Township, in brief

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

Cornish Township is a township in Sibley County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 267 at the 2000 census. Cornish Township was organized in 1871, and named after Cornish, New Hampshire, the former home of an early settler.

Its first post office opened in 1869. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 243 in 2010, 241 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Cornish Township, 1869 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Cornish post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Cornish post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1953On 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

Cornish Township on the map, 1953 to 1967

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

Cornish Township on the 1953 USGS mapCornish Township on the 1967 USGS map1953New Ulm sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cornish Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Cornish Township

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

See all →
Tippi HedrenAmerican actress, model and activist · b. 1930
Wanda GágAmerican artist and children's writer · b. 1893
Kathryn Adams DotyActress, psychologist, writer · b. 1920
Brad FinstadAmerican politician · b. 1976
Lenore UlricAmerican actress · b. 1892
H
Hilary Baumann HackerCatholic bishop · b. 1913
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

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

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cornish Township
Clear Lake LutheranMethodist

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.

Alfsborg TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWinthropIts storyB−Severance TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLafayette TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBismarck TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cornish Township’s history

What year was Cornish Township founded?

The Cornish Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.