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History · Sumter Township

Sumter Township’s post office opened in 1869, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

1869first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Sumter Township began

When was Sumter Township founded?

1869

The Sumter Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sumter (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 486157 years
Founding year: the first Sumter Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Sumter Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sumter 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 so far

Sumter Township, in brief

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

Sumter is an unincorporated community in Sumter Township, McLeod County, Minnesota, United States. The community is located along Highway 212 at Leaf Avenue near Brownton and Glencoe.

Its first post office opened in 1869. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 535 to 486 (-9%).

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

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 Sumter Township

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

See all →
Lindsay WhalenAmerican Hall of Fame basketball player and coa… · b. 1982
J
John Jeremiah McRaithCatholic bishop · b. 1934
John W. FossUnited States general · b. 1933
Ancher NelsenAmerican politician · b. 1904
D
Debbii DawsonAmerican singer · b. 1997
G
George P. HammondLatin American scholar · b. 1896
Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sumter
Gone or out of use
Ewald Landing StripairportSumter Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sumter Township
EmmanuelOak Grove

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.

Collins TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGlencoe TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHassan Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPenn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRound Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sumter Township’s history

What year was Sumter Township founded?

The Sumter Township post office opened in 1869, 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 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.