The Glasgow Township post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Glasgow (1863) and Dumfries (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 266163 years
Founding year: the first Glasgow Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Glasgow Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Glasgow
1863–1879
Dumfries
1894–1912
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dumfries
Gone or out of use
Dumfries Post Officepost office
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Glasgow Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Glasgow Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Glasgow Township is a township in Wabasha County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 298 at the 2000 census. Glasgow Township was organized in 1858, and named after Glasgow, in Scotland, the native country of a share of the first settlers.
Its first post office opened in 1863. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 247 to 266 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Glasgow Township in 1920
Passages that mention Glasgow Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wabasha County, Minnesota1920 · page 337Read the page →
Read the text
for two years, afterward moving to the Abbott Smith farm in Gillford Town¬ ship, where he remained until 1901. His next removal was to the Hentze farm in West Albany, which was his home for five years. In 1906 Mr. Sass bought 120 acres of improved land in Glasgow Township and for some time rented it out to a tenant. In 1906 he bought a 160-acre farm in section 13, West Albany, which had fair buildings, and operated this in connection with the farm of 120 acres in Glasgow Township, building on the West Albany farm a good frame barn 36 by 76 by 16 feet, with full 9-foot basement; two machine sheds,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wabasha County, Minnesota1920 · page 669Read the page →
Read the text
to Wabasha County, Minnesota, the family settling in Glasgow Township, where the father bought 160 acres of wild land and began farming. There Theodore grew, to manhood, having but limited educational opportunities, as he attended district school very little. After remaining with his father until reaching the age of 28 years, he started in for himself, buying his present farm, or rather, 120 acres of it, in section 3, Glasgow Township. To this he has since added 40 acres more, together with five acres of timber, making the total area of his land 165 acres. He has a good residence and other buildings,
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
Glasgow Township, 1863 to 1932
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 Glasgow Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1932Wabasha 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 Glasgow Township.
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), 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.
