Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Glencoe Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Glencoe Township

Glencoe Township dates to 1855, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1880.

1855founded
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Glencoe Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Glencoe Township began

When was Glencoe Township founded?

1855

Glencoe Township dates its founding to 1855 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,078 in 18802020 census: 514171 years
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓
The story

How Glencoe Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Glencoe Township.

Read it all →

Glencoe was laid out in 1855 and named after Glen Coe in Scotland. A post office has been in operation at Glencoe since 1856. Glencoe was incorporated as a city in 1909.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Glencoe Township, 1855 to 1958

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855
    FoundingGlencoe Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1942In the archiveGlencoe, Minnesota. Farmers who have registered under Selective Service act in the fireho…
  5. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Glencoe Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s8 items
Glencoe, Minnesota. Farmers who have registered under Selective Service act in the firehouse at Glencoe, Minnesota1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Farmers who have registered under…Glencoe, Minnesota. Farmer registering for Selective Service1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Farmer registering for Selective …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Glencoe, Minnesota. Farmers who have registered under Selective Service act in the…1942Untitled photo, possibly related to: Glencoe, Minneso…Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration for men twenty to forty-four not previously registered1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration fo…Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration for men twenty to forty-four not previously registered1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration fo…Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration for men twenty to forty-four not previously registered1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration fo…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration for men twenty to forty-four no…1942Untitled photo, possibly related to: Glencoe, Minneso…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration for men twenty to forty-four no…1942Untitled photo, possibly related to: Glencoe, Minneso…
1950s–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
Today4 recent
Glencoe, MN 12011Glencoe, MN 18-8 Glencoe (original) - Flickr - USDAgov20118-8 Glencoe (original) - Flickr - USDAgov2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookMNMap-doton-Glencoe2005MNMap-doton-Glencoe
On the map

Glencoe Township on the map, 1958 to 1982

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

Glencoe Township on the 1958 USGS mapGlencoe Township on the 1982 USGS map1958Glencoe 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 Glencoe 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.

Glencoe, Minnesota. Farmers who have registered under Selective Service act in the firehouse at Glencoe, Minnesota
Retake this viewGlencoe, Minnesota. Farmers who have registered under Selective Service act in the firehouse at Glencoe, Minnesota, 1942

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Glencoe Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,000188019001920194019601980200020205,744

Grew from 1,078 people in 1880 to 5,744 in 2020, 5 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Glencoe 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 viewGlencoe, Minnesota. Farmers who have re…: 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.

Glencoe2 historic placesB−Sumter TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHelen TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Auburn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRich Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreen Isle TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Glencoe Township’s history

What year was Glencoe Township founded?

In 1855, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1880 counted 1,078 people here.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (8), 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.