The story
Read it all →How Emerald Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Emerald Township.
Emerald Township was organized in 1866, and named for the Emerald Isle, the poetic name for Ireland.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Emerald Township
Emerald Township’s post office opened in 1873, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1955 on.
1873first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Emerald Township began
When was Emerald Township founded?
1873
The Emerald Township post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Emerald (1873), Dell (1883) and Marna (1901), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 210153 years
Founding year: the first Emerald Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Emerald 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 Emerald Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Emerald Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Emerald Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Emerald Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Emerald Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Emerald
Dell
Marna
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DellMarna
Gone or out of use
Amundson Landing StripairportDell Post Officepost officeErdahl Landing StripairportMarna Post Officepost officeSchaper Landing Stripairport
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Emerald Township
DellEllingson FamilyEmeraldImmanuelImmanuel United MethodistKing
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Emerald Township, 1873 to 1955
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1873Post officeThe Emerald post office opens
- 1883Post officeThe Dell post office opens
- 20th century
- 1901Post officeThe Emerald post office closes
- 1901Post officeThe Marna post office opens
- 1904Post officeThe Dell post office closes
- 1911Post officeThe Marna post office closes
- 1955
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
Emerald Township on the map, 1955 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Emerald Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1955Bricelyn 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 Emerald Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Emerald Township
Nobody well known was born in Emerald Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Blue Earth City TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBarber TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrush Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFrostIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRome TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Emerald Township’s history
What year was Emerald Township founded?
The Emerald Township post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From 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.