The Freedom Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Freedom (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 336147 years
Founding year: the first Freedom Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Freedom 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 Freedom Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Freedom Township is a township in Waseca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 336 at the 2020 census. Freedom Township was organized in 1858.
Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 326 to 336 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Freedom Township, 1879 to 1967
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 Freedom Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Waldorf 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 Freedom Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Another post office, Freedom, opened and closed inside today’s town.
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Freedom Township
FreedomFreedom Lutheran ChurchPeddler's Grove
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.
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.