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History · Havana Township

Havana Township’s post office opened in 1879, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1962 on.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Havana Township began

When was Havana Township founded?

1879

The Havana Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Havanna (1869) and Havana (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 556147 years
Founding year: the first Havana Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Havana 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 Havana Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Havana Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Havana Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Havanna
1869–1879
Havana
1879–1911
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Havana
Gone or out of use
Havana Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Havana Township
Aurora LutheranDaniaHavanaSaint John's LutheranThompson

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Havana Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Havana Township.

Read it all →

Havana was platted in 1867, when the Winona and St. Peter Railroad was extended to that point. The community was named after Havana, Illinois. A post office was established at Havanna in 1869, and remained in operation until 1911.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Havana Township, 1869 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Havanna post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Havanna post office closes
  4. 1879Post officeThe Havana post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1911Post officeThe Havana post office closes
  7. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

Havana Township on the map, 1962 to 1985

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

Havana Township on the 1962 USGS mapHavana Township on the 1985 USGS map1962Owatonna SE 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 Havana Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Owatonna TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMerton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClaremont TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAurora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Havana Township’s history

What year was Havana Township founded?

The Havana Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikipedia, 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.