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History · Rich Valley Township

39% of Rich Valley Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1860.

0on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Rich 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 Rich Valley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,172 in 1890; 669 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Rich Valley Township’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rich Valley Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rich 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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People over time

Rich Valley Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200190019502000Peak: 1,172

Peaked at 1,172 in 1890; 669 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

The story so far

Rich Valley Township, in brief

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

Rich Valley Township is a township in McLeod County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 669 at the 2020 census. The township was named for the fertile soil of the Crow River valley.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 694 to 669 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Rich Valley Township, 1860 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Koniska post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Koniska post office closes
  4. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 1,172
  5. 20th century
  6. 1958On 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

Rich Valley Township on the map, 1958 to 1982

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

Rich Valley Township on the 1958 USGS mapRich Valley Township on the 1982 USGS map1958Glencoe 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 Rich Valley Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rich Valley Township

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

See all →
A
Abby HenselAmerican actress · b. 1990
B
Brittany HenselAmerican actress · b. 1990
Rob ShanahanAmerican photographer and rock drummer · b. 1966
William VanDeSteegAmerican football player · b. 1985
D
D.D. WozniakChief Judge Minnesots Court of Appeals · b. 1922
J
Jimmy HutmakerLocal colorful character · b. 1932
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
KoniskaSouth Silver Lake
Gone or out of use
Koniska Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Rich Valley Township
Bear CreekBohemianKoniska

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.

Glencoe TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHassan Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHale TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBergen TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rich 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, 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.