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History · Erhards Grove Township

Erhards Grove Township’s post office opened in 1871, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1914 on.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Erhards Grove Township began

When was Erhards Grove Township founded?

1871

The Erhards Grove Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Erhards Grove (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 411155 years
Founding year: the first Erhards Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Erhards Grove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Erhards Grove 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

Erhards Grove Township, in brief

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

Erhards Grove Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 411 at the 2020 census. Erhards Grove Township was organized in 1870 by Alexander E. Erhard and others.

Its first post office opened in 1871. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 442 to 411 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Erhards Grove Township, 1871 to 1914

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Erhards Grove post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe Erhards Grove post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1914On 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

Erhards Grove Township on the map, 1914 to 1973

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

Erhards Grove Township on the 1914 USGS mapErhards Grove Township on the 1973 USGS map1914Pelican Rapids sheet · 1:62,500

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Erhards Grove Township

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

See all →
Dave GoltzAmerican baseball player · b. 1949
R
Roger L. HansonAmerican politician · b. 1925
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Erhards Grove Post Officepost officeLake View SchoolschoolSchool Number 278schoolSchool Number 35EschoolSchool Number 35Wschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Erhards Grove Township
BagstevoldCentral Swede Grove Lutheran Church

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.

Pelican TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townElizabeth TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMaplewood TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTrondhjem TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Erhards Grove Township’s history

What year was Erhards Grove Township founded?

The Erhards Grove Township post office opened in 1871, 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.