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History · Oak Valley Township

29% of Oak Valley Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on.

0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Oak Valley 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 Oak Valley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oak Valley Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oak Valley 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

Oak Valley Township, in brief

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

Oak Valley Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States with a population of 363 according to the 2020 census. Oak Valley Township was organized in 1877, and named for the valley of Oak Creek.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 355 to 363 (+2%).

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

Timeline

Oak Valley Township, 1901 to 1969

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Lyman post office opens
  3. 1905Post officeThe Lyman post office closes
  4. 1969On 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.

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On the map

Oak Valley Township on the map, 1969 to 1986

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

Oak Valley Township on the 1969 USGS mapOak Valley Township on the 1986 USGS map1969Wrightstown 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 Oak Valley Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Oak Valley Township

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

See all →
Karen L. NybergAmerican astronaut · b. 1969
Lesley J. McNairRecipient of the Purple Heart medal · b. 1883
Peter HayesAmerican guitarist · b. 1976
E
Elizabeth ColsonUS social anthropologist · b. 1917
Jack D. ShanstromUnited States Senior District Judge · b. 1932
J
Jeanne Murray WalkerAmerican poet · b. 1944
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Lyman
Gone or out of use
Lyman Post Officepost officeRamsdell Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Oak Valley Township
Oak RidgeTrinity

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.

Stowe Prairie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCompton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townInman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWoodside TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Oak Valley Township’s history

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.