The story
Read it all →How Decoria Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Decoria Township.
Decoria Township, organized in 1867, was named for a Winnebago chieftain.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Decoria Township
Decoria Township’s post office opened in 1868, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Decoria Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Its Register listing is the Zieglers Ford Bridge. Below: maps from 1950 on.
1868first post office
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Decoria Township began
When was Decoria Township founded?
1868
The Decoria Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Decoria (1868), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,146158 years
How historic is Decoria Township?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Decoria Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Decoria Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Decoria Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Decoria Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1868, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.5% of homes (±4.2) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 7.6 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 45%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Decoria Township’s 7.6 sits above most of its state (72% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Decoria Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Decoria Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Decoria Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Decoria Township, 1868 to 1950
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1868Post officeThe Decoria post office opens
- 1875Post officeThe Decoria post office closes
- 20th century
- 1950
On 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.
Add from your albumOn the map
Decoria Township on the map, 1950 to 1974
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Decoria Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1950Mankato East sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Decoria Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Decoria Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Zieglers Ford Bridge
Structures
Architectural styles listings
Pratt through-truss1
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Decoria Township
Nobody well known was born in Decoria Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Decoria, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Gone or out of use
Mankato Farmstrip Airportairport
1cemetery inside Decoria Township
Decoria
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.
Questions about Decoria Township’s history
What year was Decoria Township founded?
The Decoria Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Decoria Township rank for history?
Decoria Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Decoria Township?
One place: the Zieglers Ford Bridge (listed 1989).
How old are the homes in Decoria Township?
9% of Decoria Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1994.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.