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History · Pierz Township

Pierz Township dates to 1869, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1900.

1869founded
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: pierz · Public domain
Quick answers

How Pierz Township began

When was Pierz Township founded?

1869

Pierz Township dates its founding to 1869 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 358 in 19002020 census: 595157 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1912.The full story ↓

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

Start Pierz Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pierz 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 and places now gone

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

New Pierz
1912–1915
Genola
1915–1951
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Genola
Gone or out of use
GenolalocaleGenola Post Officepost office

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

The story

How Pierz Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pierz Township.

Read it all →

Pierz was named for Father Francis Xavier Pierz (Slovene: Franc Pirc), a Slovenian Roman Catholic priest who came to Minnesota in the early 1850s as a missionary to the native Ojibwe people. The town was incorporated on January 12, 1892, under the name "Rich Prairie", but on August 15, 1894, the residents voted to change the name to Pierz in F. X. Pierz's honor.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Pierz Township, 1869 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869
    FoundingPierz Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912Post officeThe New Pierz post office opens
  5. 1915Post officeThe New Pierz post office closes
  6. 1915Post officeThe Genola post office opens
  7. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1951Post officeThe Genola post office closes
By decade

Pierz Township, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Pierz, Minnesota2017Pierz, MinnesotaPierz Aerial2006Pierz AerialMNMap-doton-Pierz2005MNMap-doton-Pierz
On the map

Pierz Township on the map, 1948 to 1978

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

Pierz Township on the 1948 USGS mapPierz Township on the 1950 USGS mapPierz Township on the 1978 USGS map1948Pierz 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 Pierz Township.

People over time

Pierz Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40019001920194019601980200020201,418

Grew from 358 people in 1900 to 1,418 in 2020, 3 times over.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pierz Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

GenolaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPierz1 historic placeB+Hillman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBuckman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAgram TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Pierz Township’s history

What year was Pierz Township founded?

In 1869, according to Wikidata. Pierz Township’s post office opened in 1912, and the census of 1900 counted 358 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.