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Church of St. Joseph (Elmer Township, MN)Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Elmer Township

Elmer Township’s post office opened in 1906, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Church of St. Joseph (Catholic). Below: maps from 1963 on.

1906first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Elmer Township began

When was Elmer Township founded?

1906

The Elmer Township post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Elmer (1906), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 132120 years
Founding year: the first Elmer Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Elmer 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 Elmer Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elmer Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Elmer Township, in brief

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

Elmer is an unincorporated community in Elmer Township, Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The community is located near Meadowlands at the intersection of County Road 199 (Elmer Road) and County Road 193 (Bailey Road). Saint Louis County Highway 5, County Highway 133, and Meadowlands Trunk Road are all in the vicinity. The Saint Louis River is nearby.

Its first post office opened in 1906. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 151 to 132 (-13%).

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

Timeline

Elmer Township, 1906 to 1973

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Elmer post office opens
  3. 1913BuiltChurch of St. Joseph (Catholic) is built
  4. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1973Post officeThe Elmer post office closes
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 album
On the map

Elmer Township on the map, 1963 to 1976

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

Elmer Township on the 1963 USGS mapElmer Township on the 1976 USGS map1963Toivola SW 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 Elmer Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Elmer 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
2002
Church of St. Joseph (Catholic)
Church of St. Joseph (Catholic), built 1913
Buildings
Church of St. Joseph (Catholic)Built 1913

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Elmer Township

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

See all →
J
John Raymond YlitaloAmerican ambassador · b. 1916
E
Ed DeWittAmerican wrestler · b. 1934
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Elmer
Gone or out of use
Elmer Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elmer Township
Rose HillSaint Joseph's

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.

Meadowlands Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCedar Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townVan Buren TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townToivola TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Elmer Township’s history

What year was Elmer Township founded?

The Elmer Township post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Elmer Township?

One place: the Church of St. Joseph (Catholic) (listed 2002).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.