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History · Richwood Township

Richwood Township’s post office opened in 1872, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1959 on.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Richwood Township began

When was Richwood Township founded?

1872

The Richwood Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Richwood (1872) and Westbury (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 651154 years
Founding year: the first Richwood Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Richwood 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 Richwood Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Richwood Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Richwood Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Richwood 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, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Richwood
1872–1975
Westbury
1904–1942
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
RichwoodWestbury
Gone or out of use
Richwood Post Officepost officeWestburylocaleWestbury Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Richwood Township
Bakke LutheranBuffalo LakeLundRichwoodUpsala

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

The story so far

Richwood Township, in brief

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

Richwood is an unincorporated community in Becker County, Minnesota, United States. Richwood is 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Callaway. Richwood has a post office with ZIP code 56577.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 662 in 2010, 651 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Richwood Township, 1872 to 1975

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Richwood post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Post officeThe Westbury post office opens
  5. 1942Post officeThe Westbury post office closes
  6. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1975Post officeThe Richwood post office closes
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

Richwood Township on the map, 1959 to 1986

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

Richwood Township on the 1959 USGS mapRichwood Township on the 1986 USGS map1959Richwood 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 Richwood Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Richwood Township

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

See all →
Dave ReichertFormer United States Representative from Washin… · b. 1950
B
Bud TingelstadAmerican racing driver · b. 1928
Adam ThielenAmerican football player · b. 1990
Adolph HersethAmerican musician · b. 1921
Janet BenshoofAmerican lawyer · b. 1947
K
Kieth EngenAmerican operatic bass singer · b. 1925
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Detroit TownshipIts storyC−Callaway TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHolmesville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSugar Bush TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHamden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Richwood Township’s history

What year was Richwood Township founded?

The Richwood Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.