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History · Holy Cross Township

Holy Cross Township’s post office opened in 1869, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Bernard Bernhardson House. Below: maps from 1895 on.

1869first post office
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Holy Cross Township began

When was Holy Cross Township founded?

1869

The Holy Cross Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Holy Cross (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 113157 years
Founding year: the first Holy Cross Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Holy Cross 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 Holy Cross Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18953 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1985. Watch Holy Cross Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Holy Cross Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Holy Cross 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

Holy Cross Township on the map, 1895 to 1985

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

Holy Cross Township on the 1895 USGS mapHoly Cross Township on the 1964 USGS mapHoly Cross Township on the 1985 USGS map1895Fargo sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Holy Cross Township.

The story so far

Holy Cross Township, in brief

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

Holy Cross Township is a township in Clay County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 129 at the 2000 census. Holy Cross Township was named for a tall Christian cross which stood at a local cemetery.

Its first post office opened in 1869. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 140 to 113 (-19%).

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

Timeline

Holy Cross Township, 1869 to 1895

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Holy Cross post office opens
  3. 1889Post officeThe Holy Cross post office closes
  4. 1895On 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 National Register

1 historic place in Holy Cross Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Bernard Bernhardson House
Bernard Bernhardson House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Log Construction1
All 1 listings
Bernard Bernhardson HouseBuilding · listed 1980

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

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

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Holy Cross Township
ClaraComstock LutheranHoff

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.

Kurtz TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlliance TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWolverton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Holy Cross Township’s history

What year was Holy Cross Township founded?

The Holy Cross Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Holy Cross Township?

One place: the Bernard Bernhardson House (listed 1980).

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 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.