The story
Read it all →How Gillford Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Gillford Township.
Gillford Township was organized in 1858, and named after a pioneer settler and his wife.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Gillford Township
22% of Gillford Township’s homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1951 on and old-book passages.
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
What stands out about Gillford Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Gillford Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gillford Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Jacksonville
Oak Centre
Oak Center
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Oak Center
Gone or out of use
Oak Center Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gillford Township
BlackEnglishJacksonvilleTrinity Lutheran
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Gillford Township in 1920
Passages that mention Gillford Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wabasha County, Minnesota1920 · page 762Read the page →
Read the text
was the first team of horses in Gillford Township. They homesteaded 160 acres of wild land in section 30, Gillford Township. An Indian trail from Wabasha to Faribault ran through their farm, along which the Indians frequently passed.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wabasha County, Minnesota1920 · page 745Read the page →
Read the text
and Mrs. Andrew Scholar, who were early settlers in Glasgow Township. After returning in 1892 from Tacoma, Wash., where he had spent four years, William Herman engaged in farming in Gillford Township, but since 1907 has been proprietor of a large and finely equipped farm in Zumbro Township. Henry H. Herman was educated in the district school and worked for his father until 1917. He then rented 187 acres in section 24, Zumbro Township, a farm which he has since operated, doing diversified farming and stock raising. He expects to move to his father’s farm in the fall of 1920. On September 29, 1917, he
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Gillford Township, 1859 to 1951
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1859Post officeThe Jacksonville post office opens
- 1867Post officeThe Jacksonville post office closes
- 1874Post officeThe Oak Centre post office opens
- 1893Post officeThe Oak Centre post office closes
- 1893Post officeThe Oak Center post office opens
- 20th century
- 1907Post officeThe Oak Center post office closes
- 1951
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Gillford Township on the map, 1951 to 1974
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gillford Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1951Lake City sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gillford Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Gillford Township
Nobody well known was born in Gillford Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Mount Pleasant Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWest Albany TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHyde Park TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townZumbro Falls2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChester Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Gillford Township’s history
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.