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History · Paxton Township

Paxton Township’s post office opened in 1879, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings.

1879first post office
3on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Paxton Township began

When was Paxton Township founded?

1879

The Paxton Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Paxton (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 667147 years
Founding year: the first Paxton Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Paxton 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 Paxton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Paxton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Paxton 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

Paxton Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 555 to 667 (+20%).

Timeline

Paxton Township, 1879 to 1889

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Paxton post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Paxton post office closes
  4. 1889BuiltSt. Cornelia's Episcopal Church is built
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 National Register

3 historic places in Paxton Township

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
St. Cornelia's Episcopal Church
St. Cornelia's Episcopal Church, built 1889Birch Coulee SchoolGilfillan
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival1
St. Cornelia's Episcopal ChurchGothic Revival · Built 1889
Birch Coulee SchoolBuilding
All 3 listings
GilfillanDistrict · listed 1980

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Gilfillan
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Paxton Township
Camp Pope Burial PlotLower Sioux Community

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.

Beaver Falls TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRedwood Falls7 historic placesB+MortonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDelhi TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townThree Lakes TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSherman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRedwood Falls TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Paxton Township’s history

What year was Paxton Township founded?

The Paxton Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Paxton Township?

Three places: the St. Cornelia's Episcopal Church (listed 1979), the Birch Coulee School (1990) and the Gilfillan (1980).

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 (3), 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.