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History · Myrtle

Myrtle’s post office opened in 1887, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1940.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Myrtle began

When was Myrtle founded?

1887

The Myrtle post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 133 in 19402020 census: 47139 years
Founding year: the first Myrtle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Myrtle’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 Myrtle are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Myrtle’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Myrtle’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Myrtle’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

How Myrtle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Myrtle.

Read it all →

Myrtle was platted in 1900, when the railroad was extended to that point. The Myrtle post office closed in 1993.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Myrtle in 1911

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

Myrtle Village is located in the western part of London town¬ ship, in section 7, on the Illinois Central railroad. It is a thriv¬ ing hamlet Avith a bank, a creamery, a postoffice, a railroad sta¬ tion, two churches, and the usual business houses. In 1900, when the railroad came through, William A…
History of Freeborn County, Minnesota1911 · page 373Read the page →
Read the text

Myrtle Village is located in the western part of London town¬ ship, in section 7, on the Illinois Central railroad. It is a thriv¬ ing hamlet Avith a bank, a creamery, a postoffice, a railroad sta¬ tion, two churches, and the usual business houses. In 1900, when the railroad came through, William A. Morin purchased forty acres, and the station was erected on his property. The village also occupies a part of the farm of A. A. Schuhmacher. Before the coming of the railroad, the hamlet of Myrtle centered around the

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Myrtle United Brethren Church was started as a congre¬ gation some twenty-two years ago in the Eckert schoolhouse some two and a half miles south of the village. In 1902 the church was built in the village, the trustees at that time being G. W.
History of Freeborn County, Minnesota1911 · page 449Read the page →
Read the text

The Myrtle United Brethren Church was started as a congre¬ gation some twenty-two years ago in the Eckert schoolhouse some two and a half miles south of the village. In 1902 the church was built in the village, the trustees at that time being G. W.

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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On the map

Myrtle on the map, 1954 to 1982

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

Myrtle on the 1954 USGS mapMyrtle on the 1982 USGS map1954Hayward sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Myrtle.

People over time

Myrtle, census by census

010019401960198020002020Peak: 136

Between 47 and 136 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Myrtle’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Myrtle

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

See all →
J
Jane BloomingdaleAmerican politician in the state of Iowa · b. 1956
M
Matt JohnsonAmerican politician in North Dakota · b. 1871
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

London TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Myrtle’s history

What year was Myrtle founded?

The Myrtle post office opened in 1887, 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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.