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History · Maxwell Township

Maxwell Township’s post office opened in 1882, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1967 on.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Maxwell Township began

When was Maxwell Township founded?

1882

The Maxwell Township post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Maxwell (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 157144 years
Founding year: the first Maxwell Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Maxwell Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Maxwell 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

Maxwell Township, in brief

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

Maxwell Township is a township in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 206 at the 2000 census. Maxwell Township was organized in 1878, and named for Joseph Henry Maxwell, an early settler.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 179 to 157 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Maxwell Township, 1882 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Maxwell post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Maxwell post office closes
  4. 20th century
  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

Maxwell Township on the map, 1967 to 1985

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

Maxwell Township on the 1967 USGS mapMaxwell Township on the 1985 USGS map1967Providence 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 Maxwell Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

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

1cemetery inside Maxwell Township
Swedish Methodist Church

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.

Providence TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRiverside TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTen Mile Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOmro TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Maxwell Township’s history

What year was Maxwell Township founded?

The Maxwell Township post office opened in 1882, 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.