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West UnionWest Union · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Hancock Township

26% of Hancock Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the West Union. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1880.

1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Hancock 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 Hancock Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hancock Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hancock 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

How Hancock Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hancock Township.

Read it all →

Hancock was laid out in 1871 when the Great Northern Railway was extended to that point. The city was named for Joseph Woods Hancock, a county official. A post office has been in operation at Hancock since 1871.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hancock Township, 1881 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Assumption post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Assumption post office closes
  5. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hancock Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Hancock, Minnesota-042024Hancock, Minnesota-04Hancock, Minnesota-032024Hancock, Minnesota-03Hancock, Minnesota-02, Fire Department2024Hancock, Minnesota-02, Fire DepartmentHancock, Minnesota-01, Post Office2024Hancock, Minnesota-01, Post Office
On the map

Hancock Township on the map, 1957 to 1981

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

Hancock Township on the 1957 USGS mapHancock Township on the 1981 USGS map1957Belle Plaine 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 Hancock Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hancock Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
West Union
West Union
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Swedish Rural Church1
West UnionSwedish Rural Church

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Hancock Township, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 942

Between 91 and 942 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Assumption Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hancock Township
Bovy FamilyWest Union Lutheran Church and

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.

Faxon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBenton Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSan Francisco Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Hancock Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Hancock Township?

One place: the West Union (listed 1980).

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 National Register of Historic Places (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.