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History · Dane Prairie Township

21% of Dane Prairie Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1973 on.

0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Dane Prairie 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 Dane Prairie Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Dane Prairie Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dane Prairie 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

Dane Prairie Township, in brief

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

Dane Prairie Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 883 at the 2020 census. Dane Prairie Township was organized in 1870, and named for its prairies originally settled chiefly by natives of Denmark.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 887 in 2010, 883 in 2020.

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

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

Dane Prairie Township on the map, 1973 to 1986

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

Dane Prairie Township on the 1973 USGS mapDane Prairie Township on the 1986 USGS map1973Dalton 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 Dane Prairie Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Dane Prairie Township

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

See all →
Frank AlbertsonAmerican character actor · b. 1909
Marcus BorgAmerican Bible scholar · b. 1942
Cliff SterrettAmerican cartoonist · b. 1883
Bill LutherAmerican politician · b. 1945
Wynn RobertsAmerican biathlete · b. 1988
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Parkdale
Gone or out of use
ParkdalelocaleSchool Number 19schoolSchool Number 214schoolSchool Number 28schoolSchool Number 43schoolSchool Number 81school
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dane Prairie Township
First LutheranSwan LakeSwan Lake Lutheran Church

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.

Buse TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTordenskjold TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAurdal TownshipIts storyC−Tumuli TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Dane Prairie 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.