Most of Green Lake Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the John M. Spicer Summer House and Farm. Its Register listing is the John M. Spicer Summer House and Farm. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1956 on.
From Green Lake Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Green Lake Township began
When was Green Lake Township founded?
1857
The Green Lake Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Green Lake (1857), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,637169 years
How historic is Green Lake Township?
B−
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Green Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Green Lake Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Green Lake Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Green Lake Township’s overall grade.
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Green Lake Township’s 45.4 sits above most of its state (93% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Green Lake Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Green Lake Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Green Lake Township is a township in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,473 at the 2000 census. Green Lake Township was organized in 1868, and named for its Green Lake.
Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,582 to 1,637 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Green Lake Township, 1857 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Green Lake Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Atwater 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 Green Lake 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.
Retake this viewThe outlet, 1908
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Green Lake Township’s page.
The Green Lake Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Green Lake Township rank for history?
Green Lake Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Green Lake Township?
One place: the John M. Spicer Summer House and Farm (listed 1986).
How old are the homes in Green Lake Township?
6% of Green Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1986.
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).
From the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
