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–Not graded
History · New Sweden Township

New Sweden Township’s post office opened in 1884, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1965 on.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How New Sweden Township began

When was New Sweden Township founded?

1884

The New Sweden Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, New Sweden (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 279142 years
Founding year: the first New Sweden Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about New Sweden 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 New Sweden Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of New Sweden Township’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Sweden Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Sweden 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
The story so far

New Sweden Township, in brief

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

New Sweden is an unincorporated community in New Sweden Township, Nicollet County, Minnesota, United States. The community is located near the junction of State Highways 22 (MN 22) and 111 (MN 111). A post office named New Sweden was opened in 1884 and operated until 1905. The community received its name because many of its early settlers were immigrants from Sweden.

Its first post office opened in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 297 to 279 (-6%).

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

Timeline

New Sweden Township, 1884 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe New Sweden post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905Post officeThe New Sweden post office closes
  5. 1965On 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

New Sweden Township on the map, 1965 to 1991

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

New Sweden Township on the 1965 USGS mapNew Sweden Township on the 1986 USGS mapNew Sweden Township on the 1991 USGS map1965New Sweden 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 New Sweden Township.

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
New Sweden
Gone or out of use
New Sweden Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside New Sweden Township
Greenwood

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.

Bernadotte TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSibley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGranby TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake Prairie Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about New Sweden Township’s history

What year was New Sweden Township founded?

The New Sweden Township post office opened in 1884, 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.