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History · Mount Vernon Township

Mount Vernon Township’s post office opened in 1852, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1972 on.

1852first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mount Vernon Township began

When was Mount Vernon Township founded?

1852

The Mount Vernon Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Mount Vernon (1852) and Oak Ridge (1863), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 276174 years
Founding year: the first Mount Vernon Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mount Vernon 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 Mount Vernon Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Mount Vernon Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mount Vernon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Vernon Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mount Vernon
1852–1903
Oak Ridge
1863–1903
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Oakridge
Gone or out of use
Oakridge Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Mount Vernon Township
Mount Vernon

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Mount Vernon Township, in brief

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

Mount Vernon Township is a township in Winona County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 273 at the 2010 census. Mount Vernon Township was organized in 1858, and named after Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington.

Its first post office opened in 1852. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 273 in 2010, 276 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Mount Vernon Township, 1852 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Mount Vernon post office opens
  3. 1863Post officeThe Oak Ridge post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Mount Vernon post office closes
  6. 1903Post officeThe Oak Ridge post office closes
  7. 1972On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Mount Vernon Township on the map, 1972 to 1985

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

Mount Vernon Township on the 1972 USGS mapMount Vernon Township on the 1985 USGS map1972Weaver 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 Mount Vernon Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Mount Vernon Township

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

See all →
B
Bruce HunterAmerican politician · b. 1955
G
George Henry SpeltzCatholic bishop · b. 1912
Fred CarischAmerican baseball player · b. 1881
Edwin F. GanzAmerican politician · b. 1859
J
James Arthur MathieuCanadian politician · b. 1869
A
Al R. LejkAmerican politician – Minnesota -House 1949-52 … · b. 1911
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

MinneiskaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRollingstone TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWhitewater Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mount Vernon Township’s history

What year was Mount Vernon Township founded?

The Mount Vernon Township post office opened in 1852, 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 →
Start a conversation
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.