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History · Minneola Township

Minneola Township’s post office opened in 1863, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on.

1863first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jonathunder · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Minneola Township began

When was Minneola Township founded?

1863

The Minneola Township post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Minneola (1863), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 627163 years
Founding year: the first Minneola Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Minneola Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Minneola 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

Minneola Township, in brief

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

Minneola Township is a township in Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 657 at the 2000 census. Minneola Township was organized in 1859. Minneola is a name derived from the Dakota language meaning "much water".

Its first post office opened in 1863. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 629 in 2010, 627 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Minneola Township, 1863 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1863Post officeThe Minneola post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Minneola post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Minneola Township, decade by decade

Today1 recent
MinneolaTownHall2010MinneolaTownHall
On the map

Minneola Township on the map, 1968 to 1985

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

Minneola Township on the 1968 USGS mapMinneola Township on the 1985 USGS map1968Zumbrota 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 Minneola Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Minneola Township

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

See all →
Andrew VolsteadAmerican politician · b. 1859
C. C. BeckAmerican cartoonist · b. 1910
Sydney AndersonAmerican politician · b. 1881
G
Gerald HeaneyU.S. Army ranger, politician, attorney, and jud… · b. 1918
Gus BradleyAmerican football coach and player · b. 1966
M
Marty HaugenAmerican composer · b. 1950
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

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

7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Minneola Township
German LutheranLand Norwegian LutheranMinneola German MethodistMinneola LutheranSaint John'sSynodZumbrota

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.

Zumbrota2 historic placesBWanamingoIts storyC+Wanamingo Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townZumbrota TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBelle Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRoscoe Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Minneola Township’s history

What year was Minneola Township founded?

The Minneola Township post office opened in 1863, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.