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History · Eyota Township

23% of Eyota Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1974 on and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Eyota 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 Eyota Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Eyota Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Eyota 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

How Eyota Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Eyota Township.

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Eyota was platted in 1864. The name Eyota is derived from the Dakota word iyótaŋ, meaning "greatest" or "most". A post office has been in operation at Eyota since 1864. The city was incorporated on February 16, 1875.

Settlers had begun arriving in the area and staking claims in 1854. The earliest, Benjamin Bear, initially came in 1853 to choose a prime site with an ever-flowing spring, then returned the following year with his family. A stream called Bear Creek starts from this spring. (Today Chester Woods Lake is formed around a portion of Bear Creek that was held back behind a dam built to protect nearby Rochester from flooding.)

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Eyota Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
DEHS 1 color 01252019DEHS 1 color 0125Medical Pioneers of Minnesota2013Medical Pioneers of MinnesotaEyota MN - grain elevator2010Eyota MN - grain elevatorEyotaCream2008EyotaCreamCoanHouse2008CoanHouseMNMap-doton-Eyota2005MNMap-doton-Eyota
On the map

Eyota Township on the map, 1974 to 1985

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

Eyota Township on the 1974 USGS mapEyota Township on the 1985 USGS map1974Marion 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 Eyota Township.

People over time

Eyota Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000188019001920194019601980200020202,006

Grew from 404 people in 1880 to 2,006 in 2020, 4 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eyota Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Eyota Township
Ben Baer FarmClineEdith Wright FarmHoly RedeemerOak GroveRandall ForkWalter McConnell Farm

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.

Dover Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townViola Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarion TownshipIts storyCOrion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Eyota Township’s history

Memory lane

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

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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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.