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History · Otisco Township

Otisco Township’s post office opened in 1857, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Vista Lutheran Church. Below: maps from 1967 on.

1857first post office
1on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Otisco Township began

When was Otisco Township founded?

1857

The Otisco Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Vista (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 544169 years
Founding year: the first Otisco Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Otisco 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 Otisco Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Otisco Township’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Otisco Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Otisco 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

Otisco Township, in brief

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

Otisco oh-TISS-koh) is an unincorporated community in Otisco Township, Waseca County, Minnesota, United States, near New Richland and Waseca. The community is located near the junction of Waseca County Road 15 and State Highway 13 (MN 13). Otisco was platted in 1877 when the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway was extended to that point.

Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 599 to 544 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Otisco Township, 1857 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Otisco post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Vista post office opens
  4. 1878Post officeThe Vista post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1967On 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

Otisco Township on the map, 1967 to 1985

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

Otisco Township on the 1967 USGS mapOtisco Township on the 1985 USGS map1967New Richland 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 Otisco Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Otisco Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Vista Lutheran Church
Vista Lutheran Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival1
All 1 listings
Vista Lutheran ChurchBuilding · listed 1982

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Otisco Township

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

See all →
Leroy ShieldAmerican film score and radio composer, pianist… · b. 1893
Ray John MaddenAmerican politician · b. 1892
Robert SheranAmerican lawyer, judge and politician · b. 1916
G
Glenn OdekirkAmerican engineer · b. 1905
E
E. T. PickeringAmerican football and baseball coach · b. 1888
G
Gene GlynnAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1956
Places that used to be

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

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

Otisco
1857–today
Vista
1875–1878
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
OtiscoVista
Gone or out of use
Vista Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Otisco Township
Otisco - LemondOtiscoVista Covenant ChurchVista Swedish Lutheran Church

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.

Woodville TownshipIts storyC−Wilton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLemond TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Richland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Otisco Township’s history

What year was Otisco Township founded?

The Otisco Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Otisco Township?

One place: the Vista Lutheran Church (listed 1982).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.