Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Sundown Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Sundown Township

Sundown Township’s post office opened in 1875, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1967 on.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Sundown Township began

When was Sundown Township founded?

1875

The Sundown Township post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sundown (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 172151 years
Founding year: the first Sundown Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sundown 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 Sundown Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Sundown Township’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sundown Township’s collection

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

Sundown Township, in brief

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

Sundown Township is one of the twenty-six townships of Redwood County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 242 at the 2000 census. Sundown Township was organized in 1873.

Its first post office opened in 1875. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 185 to 172 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Sundown Township, 1875 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Sundown post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Sundown post office closes
  5. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Sundown Township on the map, 1967 to 1986

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

Sundown Township on the 1967 USGS mapSundown Township on the 1986 USGS map1967Clements SE 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 Sundown Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Sundown Township

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

See all →
T
Timothy JohnsonAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1985
Glen TaylorAmerican politician and businessman · b. 1941
P
Paul HenzeUS intelligence officer, writer · b. 1924
A
Arvonne FraserAmerican political activist · b. 1925
Bernie BiermanAmerican college football player and coach · b. 1894
B
Bob GebhardAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1943
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

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

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sundown Township
SundownSundown Lutheran ChurchTonak

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.

North Star TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrookville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWillow Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townThree Lakes TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sundown Township’s history

What year was Sundown Township founded?

The Sundown Township post office opened in 1875, 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 →
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.