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C−History
History · Rush Lake Township

Rush Lake Township’s post office opened in 1870

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Rush Lake Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1912 on.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Rush Lake Township began

When was Rush Lake Township founded?

1870

The Rush Lake Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Rush Lake (1870) and Saint Lawrence (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,035156 years

How historic is Rush Lake Township?

C−

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Rush Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Rush Lake Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rush Lake Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rush Lake Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1870, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19406.3% of homes (±4.5) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MN town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 23%
NewerOlder

Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Rush Lake Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Rush Lake 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 Rush Lake Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Rush Lake Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rush Lake Township’s collection

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

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

Rush Lake
1870–1878
Saint Lawrence
1886–1906
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Hagen AirportairportRush Lake Post Officepost officeSaint Lawrence Post Officepost officeSchool Number 199school
1cemetery inside Rush Lake Township
Richville

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

The story so far

Rush Lake Township, in brief

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

Rush Lake Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,035 at the 2020 census. Rush Lake Township was organized in 1871.

Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 970 to 1,035 (+7%).

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

Timeline

Rush Lake Township, 1870 to 1912

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Rush Lake post office opens
  3. 1878Post officeThe Rush Lake post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Saint Lawrence post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906Post officeThe Saint Lawrence post office closes
  7. 1912On 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

Rush Lake Township on the map, 1912 to 1973

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

Rush Lake Township on the 1912 USGS mapRush Lake Township on the 1973 USGS map1912Battle Lake 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 Rush Lake Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rush Lake Township

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

See all →
Peter HayesAmerican guitarist · b. 1976
E
Emery FletcherAmerican religious leader · b. 1868
E
Erle WhitingAmerican Latter Day Saints leader · b. 1876
R
Rupert FletcherAmerican religious leader · b. 1896
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dead Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOtter Tail Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOtto TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPerham TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Rush Lake Township’s history

What year was Rush Lake Township founded?

The Rush Lake Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Rush Lake Township rank for history?

Rush Lake Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Rush Lake Township?

6% of Rush Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1984.

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).

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.