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History · Halstad Township

44% of Halstad Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1900.

0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Skvader · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about Halstad 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 Halstad Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1984. Watch Halstad Township change.Old housesHalf of Halstad Township’s homes were built before 1956.
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Start Halstad Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Halstad 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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On the map

Halstad Township on the map, 1918 to 1984

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

Halstad Township on the 1918 USGS mapHalstad Township on the 1963 USGS mapHalstad Township on the 1984 USGS map1918Hendrum 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 Halstad Township.

The story

How Halstad Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Halstad Township.

Read it all →

The town of Halstad came into being on September 23, 1883, when the railroad was extended to it. It was platted for C.G. Comstock and wife and A.A. White and wife on that date. It appeared to the majority most fitting to use the same name for the town as had been adopted for its post office - hence the name Halstad was adopted. This was moved into town in 1884 from Ole Halstad's rural home. Less than a year after Halstad became a town, the construction of a school within the village was begun.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Halstad Township, 1879 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Marsh River post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Post officeThe Marsh River post office closes
  5. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Halstad Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
World's largest sugar beet2021World's largest sugar beetFEMA - 40500 - Aerial of floods in Minnesota2009FEMA - 40500 - Aerial of floods in MinnesotaFEMA - 40499 - Aerial of floods in Minnesota2009FEMA - 40499 - Aerial of floods in MinnesotaMNMap-doton-Halstad2005MNMap-doton-Halstad
People over time

Halstad Township, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 690

Between 442 and 690 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Marsh River Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Halstad Township
AugustanaNorthSouth

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.

Shelly Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAnthony TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHendrum TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Halstad 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), 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.