Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Goodhue 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 · Goodhue Township

Goodhue Township dates to 1889, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1900.

1889founded
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Goodhue Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Goodhue Township began

When was Goodhue Township founded?

1889

Goodhue Township dates its founding to 1889 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 241 in 19002020 census: 542137 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1890.The full story ↓

What stands out about Goodhue Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Goodhue Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Goodhue Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Goodhue Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMain business street, looking north, Go…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Goodhue Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Goodhue Township.

Read it all →

Goodhue was incorporated in 1889. Goodhue formerly had a rail line running through the eastern edge of the incorporated area, roughly parallel to and west of State Highway 58.

The Goodhue Area Historical Society constructed a museum in the community named in honor of James M. Goodhue, a newspaperman who was the first editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Since the mid-1990s, Goodhue, like many Midwestern municipalities with medium to large elevator operations, has seen its housing base and population grow.

The first significant growth in 20 years began with construction of several homes in an annexed area north of Third Avenue and west of Sixth Street known as "East side".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Goodhue Township, 1889 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889
    FoundingGoodhue Township is established
  3. 1890Post officeThe Claybank post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe Claybank post office closes
  6. 1908In the archiveMain business street, looking north, Goodhue, Minn
  7. 1964In the archiveCGW 13 (S1) at end of line at Goodhue, MN Crew eating oyster stew in caboose, January 30,…
  8. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Goodhue Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Main business street, looking north, Goodhue, Minn1908Main business street, looking north, Goodhue, MinnMain business street, looking north1908Main business street, looking north
1910s–1950snothing 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
1960s1 item
CGW 13 (S1) at end of line at Goodhue, MN Crew eating oyster stew in caboose, January 30, 19641964CGW 13 (S1) at end of line at Goodhue, MN Crew eating…
1970s–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
Today1 recent
Goodhue Depot - July 20232023Goodhue Depot - July 2023
On the map

Goodhue Township on the map, 1968 to 1985

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

Goodhue Township on the 1968 USGS mapGoodhue Township on the 1985 USGS map1968Goodhue East 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 Goodhue 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.

Main business street, looking north, Goodhue, Minn
Retake this viewMain business street, looking north, Goodhue, Minn, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Goodhue Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40019001920194019601980200020201,250

Grew from 241 people in 1900 to 1,250 in 2020, 5 times over.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Claybank, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Claybank
Gone or out of use
Claybank Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Goodhue Township
Goodhue PresbyterianGrace Luthern ChurchSaint John's German LutheranSwedishZion

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.

Featherstone TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBelle Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBelvidere TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townZumbrota TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Goodhue Township’s history

What year was Goodhue Township founded?

In 1889, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Goodhue Township’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1900 counted 241 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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.