Most of Fair Haven Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listing is the Fair Haven Flour Mill. Below: maps from 1951 on.
The Fair Haven Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fairhaven (1857), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,517169 years
How historic is Fair Haven Township?
C+
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fair Haven Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Fair Haven Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fair Haven Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fair Haven Township’s overall grade.
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 Fair Haven Township’s 6.7 sits above most of its state (68% 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 (±4.5 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 Fair Haven Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fair Haven Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Fair Haven Township is a township in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,507 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Fairhaven is located within Fair Haven Township. Fair Haven Township was organized in 1859, and was descriptively named by first settlers.
Its first post office opened in 1857. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,507 in 2010, 1,517 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Fair Haven Township, 1857 to 1961
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fair Haven Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1951Annandale 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 Fair Haven Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Fair Haven Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Fair Haven Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fair Haven Township rank for history?
Fair Haven 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 Fair Haven Township?
One place: the Fair Haven Flour Mill (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Fair Haven Township?
9% of Fair Haven Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 Wikidata (1), 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.
