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History · Mason Township

Mason Township’s post office opened in 1890, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1967 on.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Mason Township began

When was Mason Township founded?

1890

The Mason Township post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mason (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 276136 years
Founding year: the first Mason Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Mason Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mason 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 so far

Mason Township, in brief

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

Mason Township is a township in Murray County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 284 at the 2000 census. It contains part of the census-designated place of The Lakes. Mason Township was originally called Okcheeda Township, and under the latter name was organized in 1872. The present name, adopted in 1879, is for Milo D. Mason, an early settler.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 299 to 276 (-8%).

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

Timeline

Mason Township, 1890 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Mason post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Mason post office closes
  5. 1967On 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

Mason Township on the map in 1967

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mason Township.

Mason Township on the 1967 USGS map1967Hadley 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 Mason Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

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

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.

Lake Sarah TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSlayton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMurray Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLowville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mason Township’s history

What year was Mason Township founded?

The Mason Township post office opened in 1890, 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 and the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.