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History · Rushford Village

21% of Rushford Village’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1860.

0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Rushford Village’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Rushford Village’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rushford Village’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rushford Village’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAcademy of the Evangelical Free Church,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Rushford Village came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rushford Village.

Read it all →

The first pioneers pole-boated up the Root River to the junction of Rush Creek, peering through 10-foot tall grasses to see what astonishing beauty the bluff lands had to offer. The early settlers gave Rushford its name on Christmas Day in 1854, during a chicken supper hosted by Capt. Dyer. The name stems from the nearby Rush Creek, which had tall Rushes growing along its banks. The area was once referred to as “Trail City” because seven Indian trails met at the creek. The Wieser Brothers were said to be the first founders of the city and quickly followed by hundreds.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Rushford Village, 1910 to 1995

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910In the archiveAcademy of the Evangelical Free Church, Rushford, Minn
  3. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1995In the archiveHistoric Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Burr Oak Tree, Magelssen Park
By decade

Rushford Village, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Academy of the Evangelical Free Church, Rushford, Minn1910Academy of the Evangelical Free Church, Rushford, Minn
1920s–1980snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1990s1 item
Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Burr Oak Tree, Magelssen Park1995Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Burr Oak Tree, …
Today3 recent
Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Tiny Episcopal Church in Rushford2006Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Tiny Episcopal …Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Magelssen Bluff Park2006Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway - Magelssen Bluff…MNMap-doton-Rushford2005MNMap-doton-Rushford
On the map

Rushford Village on the map, 1954 to 1974

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

Rushford Village on the 1954 USGS mapRushford Village on the 1974 USGS map1954Lewiston 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 Rushford Village.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Academy of the Evangelical Free Church, Rushford, Minn
Retake this viewAcademy of the Evangelical Free Church, Rushford, Minn, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Rushford Village’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Rushford Village, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900195020001,860

Grew from 477 people in 1860 to 1,860 in 2020, 3 times over.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
South Rushford
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Rushford Village
East GraceHungerholdtJohnsonSaint JosephSherwoodWest Grace

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.

Norway Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townArendahl TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFremont TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMoney Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHart TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rushford Village’s history

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