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BHistory
History · Hutchinson Township

Hutchinson Township dates to 1855, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Komensky School. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1880.

1855founded
1on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hutchinson Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hutchinson Township began

When was Hutchinson Township founded?

1855

Hutchinson Township dates its founding to 1855 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 580 in 18802020 census: 1,215171 years

How historic is Hutchinson Township?

B

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1899.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hutchinson Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hutchinson Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hutchinson Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1855, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194015.7% of homes (±5.8) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 9.0 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 56%
NewerOlder

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 Hutchinson Township’s 9.0 sits above most of its state (74% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1855.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 →

The story

How Hutchinson Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hutchinson Township.

Read it all →

The Hutchinson Family Singers (John, Asa, and Judson Hutchinson) are credited with founding the town in November 1855. A post office has been in operation in Hutchinson since 1856. The city was incorporated in 1904.

The Dakota under Little Crow attacked the town on September 4, 1862, during the Dakota War of that year. Several outlying buildings were burned before the townspeople were able to repel the assault from behind the town's stockade.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hutchinson Township, 1855 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855
    FoundingHutchinson Township is established
  3. 1899Post officeThe Bearlake post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901In the archiveHutchinson, Minnesota
  6. 1903Post officeThe Bearlake post office closes
  7. 1941In the archiveThe Hutchinson Singers, by Elsa Jemne, 1941
  8. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hutchinson Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Hutchinson, Minnesota1901Hutchinson, MinnesotaHutchinson, Minnesota1901Hutchinson, Minnesota
1910s–1930snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1940s3 items
The Hutchinson Singers, by Elsa Jemne, 19411941The Hutchinson Singers, by Elsa Jemne, 1941Hutchinson, Minnesota. Selective Service registration1942Hutchinson, Minnesota. Selective Service registrationUntitled photo, possibly related to: Hutchinson, Minnesota. Selective Service registration1942Untitled photo, possibly related to: Hutchinson, Minn…
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today11 recent
Hutchinson, MN 22011Hutchinson, MN 2Hutchinson, MN 12011Hutchinson, MN 1Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills, MN - panoramio (5)2010Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills, MN - panorami…Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to2010Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills toLuce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson, MN - panoramio (5)2010Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson,…Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson, MN - panoramio (4)2010Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson,…Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson, MN - panoramio (3)2010Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson,…Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson, MN - panoramio (2)2010Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson,…Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson, MN - panoramio (1)2010Luce Line Bike-Walk Trail, Cedar Mills to Hutchinson,…Rocket Hill Park2008Rocket Hill ParkMNMap-doton-Hutchinson2005MNMap-doton-Hutchinson
On the map

Hutchinson Township on the map, 1958 to 1994

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

Hutchinson Township on the 1958 USGS mapHutchinson Township on the 1982 USGS mapHutchinson Township on the 1994 USGS map1958Hutchinson 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 Hutchinson 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.

Hutchinson, Minnesota
Retake this viewHutchinson, Minnesota, 1901

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hutchinson Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hutchinson 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
2009
Komensky School
Komensky School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
Komensky SchoolColonial Revival

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

People over time

Hutchinson Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,0001880190019201940196019802000202014,599

Grew from 580 people in 1880 to 14,599 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Komensky
1cemetery inside Hutchinson Township
Saint Anastasia

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

Help out

Finish Hutchinson Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHutchinson, Minnesota: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hutchinson3 historic placesC+Hassan Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCollinwood Township1 historic placeBHale TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAcoma TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Hutchinson Township’s history

What year was Hutchinson Township founded?

In 1855, according to Wikidata. Hutchinson Township’s post office opened in 1899, and the census of 1880 counted 580 people here.

How does Hutchinson Township rank for history?

Hutchinson Township is more historic than 56% 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 Hutchinson Township?

One place: the Komensky School (listed 2009).

How old are the homes in Hutchinson Township?

16% of Hutchinson Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1983.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (13), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), 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.