–Not graded

History · Fergus Falls Township

14% of Fergus Falls Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register

14%homes built before 1940

2old photos & papers

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Fergus Falls Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Fergus Falls 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 writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19133 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1994. Watch Fergus Falls Township change.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fergus Falls Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewGreetings from Fergus Falls Minnesota -…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Fergus Falls Township on the map, 1913 to 1994

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

Fergus Falls Township on the 1913 USGS map

Fergus Falls Township on the 1973 USGS map

Fergus Falls Township on the 1994 USGS map

1913Fergus Falls 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 Fergus Falls Township.

The story

How Fergus Falls Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fergus Falls Township.

Read it all →

The falls from which the city gets part of its name were discovered by Joe Whitford (a Scottish trapper) in 1856 and promptly named in honor of his employer, James Fergus. It is not known whether Fergus ever visited the city, but Whitford did not live to see the city develop, as he was killed during the 1862 Dakota war in western Minnesota. In 1867, George B. Wright was at the land office at St. Cloud and found Whitford's lapsed claim, purchased the land, and built what is now the Central Dam in downtown Fergus Falls around 1871. After Wright died in 1882, his son Vernon moved from Boston to Minnesota and took over his father's interests in the town. Vernon Wright was also one of the two people who established the Otter Tail Power Company in 1907. The city was incorporated in the late 1870s and is situated along the dividing line between the former great deciduous forest of the Northwes…

Chapters21st century Growth Immigration Population growth and loss

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Fergus Falls Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items

Greetings from Fergus Falls Minnesota - DPLA - 41063a160dc8fa1575770722ac26b2f5

1908Greetings from Fergus Falls Minnesota - DPLA - 41063a…

1908Taft & Jacobson near

1910s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewGreetings from Fergus Falls Minnesota - DPLA - 41063a160dc8fa1575770722ac26b2f5, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fergus Falls Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Fergus Falls Township, census by census

Grew from 1,635 people in 1880 to 14,119 in 2020, 8 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use

School Number 34schoolSchool Number 92schoolSchool Number 96school

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fergus Falls Township

FirstFirst UnitedState Hospital for the Insane

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.

Fergus Falls13 historic placesB⁺Aurdal TownshipIts storyC⁻Carlisle TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Elizabeth TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Orwell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fergus Falls Township’s history

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (4), 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.

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