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St. Joseph, Minnesota buildingsPhoto: Skvader · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · St. Joseph Township

St. Joseph Township dates to 1854, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1880.

1854founded
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Skvader · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How St. Joseph Township began

When was St. Joseph Township founded?

1854

St. Joseph Township dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 292 in 18802020 census: 946172 years
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓

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

Start St. Joseph Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Joseph 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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The story

How St. Joseph Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Joseph Township.

Read it all →

Originally home to the native Dakota people until the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851, St. Joseph was laid out in 1855.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

St. Joseph Township, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Jacob Wetterling map2016Jacob Wetterling mapMapWetterling2014WetterlingPatty Wetterling (2014)2014Patty Wetterling (2014)Looking west along the trail, July 20102010Looking west along the trail, July 2010MNMap-doton-St. Joseph2005MNMap-doton-St. Joseph
On the map

St. Joseph Township on the map, 1965 to 1993

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

St. Joseph Township on the 1965 USGS mapSt. Joseph Township on the 1979 USGS mapSt. Joseph Township on the 1993 USGS map1965St Joseph 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 St. Joseph Township.

People over time

St. Joseph Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0007,500188019001920194019601980200020207,029

Grew from 292 people in 1880 to 7,029 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

St. Joseph3 historic placesB−Waite ParkIts storyC−Rockville1 historic placeB−Collegeville Township1 historic placeBSt. Wendel TownshipIts storyC+St. Cloud14 historic placesBSt. John's University1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about St. Joseph Township’s history

What year was St. Joseph Township founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata. the census of 1880 counted 292 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.