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History · Great Bend Township

34% of Great Bend Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1970 on.

0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

Where Great Bend Township’s name came from

How did Great Bend Township get its name?

Great Bend Township was named for a nearby meander on the Des Moines River.

Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What stands out about Great Bend 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 writtenNo old photos of Great Bend Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Great Bend Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Great Bend Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Great Bend Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Great Bend Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Great Bend Township is a township in Cottonwood County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 287 at the 2010 census. Great Bend Township was organized in 1870. It was named for a nearby meander on the Des Moines River.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 287 to 314 (+9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

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.
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On the map

Great Bend Township on the map, 1970 to 1985

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

Great Bend Township on the 1970 USGS mapGreat Bend Township on the 1985 USGS map1970Harder Lake 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 Great Bend Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Great Bend Township

Nobody well known was born in Great Bend Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
M
Maria SchneiderJazz bandleader and composer · b. 1960
Johnny OlsonAmerican television announcer · b. 1910
F
Frederick William FrekingCatholic bishop · b. 1913
Gilbert EsauAmerican politician · b. 1919
E
Elaine HarderAmerican politician · b. 1947
Garland BuckeyeAmerican baseball player · b. 1897
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Windom1 historic placeB−Delafield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLakeside TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDale TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpringfield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Great Bend Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.