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History · Norwegian Grove Township

Norwegian Grove Township’s post office opened in 1878, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1914 on.

1878first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Norwegian Grove Township began

When was Norwegian Grove Township founded?

1878

The Norwegian Grove Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Norwegian Grove (1878) and Centergrove (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 340148 years
Founding year: the first Norwegian Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Norwegian Grove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Norwegian Grove 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.

Norwegian Grove
1878–1906
Centergrove
1898–1905
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Norwegian Grove
Gone or out of use
Centergrove Post Officepost officeNorwegian Grove Post Officepost officeSchool Number 280schoolSchool Number 48schoolSchool Number 52schoolSchool Number 59schoolSchool Number 60school
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Norwegian Grove Township
Little BethanyNorth ImmanuelNorwegian GroveWest North Immanuel

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

The story so far

Norwegian Grove Township, in brief

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

Norwegian Grove Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 340 at the 2020 census. Norwegian Grove Township was organized in 1873. A large share of the early settlers being natives of Norway caused the name to be selected.

Its first post office opened in 1878. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 300 to 340 (+13%).

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

Timeline

Norwegian Grove Township, 1878 to 1914

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Norwegian Grove post office opens
  3. 1898Post officeThe Centergrove post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905Post officeThe Centergrove post office closes
  6. 1906Post officeThe Norwegian Grove post office closes
  7. 1914On 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

Norwegian Grove Township on the map, 1914 to 1973

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

Norwegian Grove Township on the 1914 USGS mapNorwegian Grove Township on the 1973 USGS map1914Pelican Rapids 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 Norwegian Grove Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Norwegian Grove Township

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

See all →
Dave GoltzAmerican baseball player · b. 1949
Alta Lillian King(1899-1981) American dancer, singer, and Ziegfe… · b. 1899
R
Roger L. HansonAmerican politician · b. 1925
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Prairie View TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTansem TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTrondhjem TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPelican TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Norwegian Grove Township’s history

What year was Norwegian Grove Township founded?

The Norwegian Grove Township post office opened in 1878, 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 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.