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Welcome sign, Fisher, MinnesotaPhoto: Myotus · CC BY 4.0
–Not graded
History · Fisher Township

38% of Fisher Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fisher Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Fisher Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers.Old housesHalf of Fisher Township’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · By decade

Fisher Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s18 items
Topping sugar beets, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Topping sugar beets, near Fisher, MinnesotaMexican beet workers, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Mexican beet workers, near Fisher, MinnesotaYoung boy beet worker, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Young boy beet worker, near Fisher, MinnesotaYoung boy beet worker, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Young boy beet worker, near Fisher, MinnesotaMexican sugar beet worker, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Mexican sugar beet worker, near Fisher, MinnesotaMexican beet workers family, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Mexican beet workers family, near Fisher, MinnesotaYoung girl working in the beet fields, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Young girl working in the beet fields, near Fisher, M…Shack occupied by transient sugar beet workers near Fisher, Minnesota1937Shack occupied by transient sugar beet workers near F…Mother and father of beet worker family near Fisher, Minnesota1937Mother and father of beet worker family near Fisher, …Mother and father of beet worker family near Fisher, Minnesota1937Mother and father of beet worker family near Fisher, …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar beets, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar be…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar beets, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar be…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar beets, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar be…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar beets, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar be…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar beets, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Topping sugar be…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mexican beet workers, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mexican beet wor…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mexican beet workers, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mexican beet wor…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mexican beet workers, near Fisher, Minnesota1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mexican beet wor…
1940s–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
The story

How Fisher Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fisher Township.

Read it all →

Fisher is one of the oldest settlements in Polk County. It was originally named "Shirt-Tail Bend" because a shirt had once been tied to a stick to warn steamboats of a bend in the river. It was renamed 'Fisher's Landing', and later shortened to Fisher. These names were adopted in honor of William H. Fisher, who was born in Hunterdon county, N. J., December 24, 1844; engaged in railroad business after 1864; settled in St. Paul in 1873, as attorney for the receiver of the St. Paul and Pacific railroad, and as its assistant manager and superintendent; later was president and manager of the St. Paul and Duluth railroad company, 1883–99; was vice president and general manager of the Duluth and Winnipeg railroad company, 1888-93.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Fisher Township on the map, 1964 to 1984

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

Fisher Township on the 1964 USGS mapFisher Township on the 1984 USGS map1964Fisher 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 Fisher Township.

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.

Topping sugar beets, near Fisher, Minnesota
Retake this viewTopping sugar beets, near Fisher, Minnesota, 1937

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Fisher Township, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 481

Between 239 and 481 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
FreemanRoss
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fisher Township
EricksonFisherFisher LutheranGreenwood

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Fisher Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTopping sugar beets, near Fisher, Minne…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lowell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBygland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNesbit TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRoome TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fisher 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 the Library of Congress (18), 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.