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History · Sparta Township

21% of Sparta Township’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Sparta 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 Sparta Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sparta Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sparta 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
The story

How Sparta Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sparta Township.

Read it all →

Sparta Township was organized in 1870, and named after the Ancient Greek city of Sparta. The township was originally to be called Chippewa Township but later was renamed as that name was already taken for a township in Douglas County. The township was first settled along the timber districts along the Minnesota River. Later immigration filled in the prairies with farmsteads, with the first house being built on the prairie in 1869.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Sparta Township

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

See all →
Wayne BrabenderAmerican-Spanish basketball player · b. 1945
David MingeAmerican politician · b. 1942
L
Larry ColePlayer of American football · b. 1946
S
Seth HinrichsAmerican basketball player · b. 1993
H
Harland SvareAmerican football player and coach · b. 1930
L
Leo Hale TaylorAmerican Roman Catholic priest · b. 1889
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Wegdahl
Gone or out of use
WegdahllocaleWegdahllocaleWegdahl Post Officepost officeWegdahl Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sparta Township
Black Oak LakeSaint John's Lutheran ChurchStrombeck

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.

Camp Release Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStony Run TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMontevideo4 historic placesB+Tunsberg Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGranite Falls Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRosewood TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLeenthrop TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sparta 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 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.