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–Not graded
History · McPherson Township

43% of McPherson Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: old-book passages.

0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about McPherson 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 McPherson Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of McPherson Township’s homes were built before 1964.
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Start McPherson Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how McPherson 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

McPherson Township, in brief

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

McPherson Township is a township in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 470 as of the 2000 census. McPherson Township was named for James B. McPherson, an officer in the Civil War.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 466 to 424 (-9%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about McPherson Township in 1901

Passages that mention McPherson Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

joining it was Winnebago Agency, where the agenfs house had been converted into a hotel by J. C. Truman, and Henry Poster had a large store and postoffice. McPherson Township had another sawmill. Every town in the county had school houses and was dotted over with farm houses, of which the great maj…
History of Blue Earth County and biographies of its leading citizens1901 · page 163Read the page →
Read the text

joining it was Winnebago Agency, where the agenfs house had been converted into a hotel by J. C. Truman, and Henry Poster had a large store and postoffice. McPherson Township had another sawmill. Every town in the county had school houses and was dotted over with farm houses, of which the great majority were log buildings. Everywhere during the summer

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

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Famous people

Famous people close to McPherson Township

Nobody well known was born in McPherson Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

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Aaron SheehanAmerican tenor and music professor · b. 1975
D
David M. CareyAmerican politician – Minnesota -- "D.M." Senat… · b. 1889
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside McPherson Township
Bunker HillMcPhersonSaint Johns

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.

Le Ray TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDecoria Township1 historic placeB−Alton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMedo TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about McPherson Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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 the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.