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–Not graded
History · St. Martin

St. Martin’s post office opened in 1891, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: old-book passages.

1891first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How St. Martin began

When was St. Martin founded?

1891

The St. Martin post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Leedston (1868), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 312135 years
Founding year: the first St. Martin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start St. Martin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Martin’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. Martin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Martin.

Read it all →

St. Martin was laid out in 1866, and named after Martin of Tours. St. Martin was incorporated in 1891.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about St. Martin in 1915

Passages that mention St. Martin, cut from the printed page as they were published.

ship 123, range 34, be annexed to the township of Crow Lake ; that the west half of township 124, range 34, be annexed to the township of North Fork; and that the east half of township 123, range 34, and the south half of township 123, range 33, be annexed to the township of St. Martin, by which ac…
History of Stearns County, Minnesota1915 · page 1255Read the page →
Read the text

ship 123, range 34, be annexed to the township of Crow Lake ; that the west half of township 124, range 34, be annexed to the township of North Fork; and that the east half of township 123, range 34, and the south half of township 123, range 33, be annexed to the township of St. Martin, by which action the township of Verdale passed finally off the face of the county map. Congressional township 123, range 33, and the east half of township 123, range 34, were taken from the township of St. Martin June 28, 1869, and made into the town of Lake Henry. The first town meeting was appointed

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The village of St. Martin is located in the southeast corner of the township of St. Martin in sections 25, 26 and 35, 36, on the south bank of the Sauk river.
History of Stearns County, Minnesota1915 · page 1324Read the page →
Read the text

The village of St. Martin is located in the southeast corner of the township of St. Martin in sections 25, 26 and 35, 36, on the south bank of the Sauk river.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

St. Martin, 1868 to 1891

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Leedston post office opens
  3. 1891Post officeThe Leedston post office closes
  4. 1891Post officeThe Saint Martin post office opens
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.

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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Leedston
1868–1891
Saint Martin
1891–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint Martin
1cemetery inside St. Martin
Saint Martin

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.

St. Martin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townZion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about St. Martin’s history

What year was St. Martin founded?

The St. Martin post office opened in 1891, 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 →
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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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.