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History · Mansfield Township

Mansfield Township’s post office opened in 1872, and 64% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1955 on.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
64%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Mansfield Township began

When was Mansfield Township founded?

1872

The Mansfield Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, State Line (1864) and Mansfield (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 225154 years
Founding year: the first Mansfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mansfield 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 Mansfield Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mansfield Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Mansfield Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mansfield Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mansfield 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
The story so far

Mansfield Township, in brief

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

Mansfield is an unincorporated community in Mansfield Township, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 237 to 225 (-5%).

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

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.

State Line
1864–1879
Mansfield
1872–1908
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Mansfield
Gone or out of use
Mansfield Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mansfield Township
Lime CreekMansfield LutheranSchniederUnited BrethrenZion

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

Timeline

Mansfield Township, 1864 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864Post officeThe State Line post office opens
  3. 1872Post officeThe Mansfield post office opens
  4. 1879Post officeThe State Line post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908Post officeThe Mansfield post office closes
  7. 1955On 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

Mansfield Township on the map, 1955 to 1982

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

Mansfield Township on the 1955 USGS mapMansfield Township on the 1982 USGS map1955Wells 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 Mansfield Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Nunda TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKiester TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mansfield Township’s history

What year was Mansfield Township founded?

The Mansfield Township post office opened in 1872, 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 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.