2 of May Township’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #91 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Benjamin B. Sheffield House and the John and Martin Mower House and Arcola Mill Site. Most of May Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listings are the Benjamin B. Sheffield House and the John and Martin Mower House and Arcola Mill Site. Below: maps from 1948 on.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, May Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #91 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of May Township’s overall grade.
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 May Township’s 7.6 sits above most of its state (71% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
What stands out about May Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Maple Island
1885–1900
Withrow
1891–1963
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ArcolaCarnelian JunctionMaple IslandWithrow
Gone or out of use
Keller AirportairportMaple Island Post Officepost officeWithrow Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside May Township
Withrow
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
May Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of May Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
May Township is a township in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,670 at the 2020 census. May Township was organized in 1893, and named for Morgan May, an English settler.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,776 to 2,670 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
May Township, 1885 to 1963
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
May Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #91 of 273 in Minnesota. 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 May Township?
Two places: the Benjamin B. Sheffield House (listed 1980) and the John and Martin Mower House and Arcola Mill Site (1980).
How old are the homes in May Township?
8% of May Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
