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History · Tenhassen Township

Tenhassen Township’s post office opened in 1862, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1970 on.

1862first post office
0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Tenhassen Township began

When was Tenhassen Township founded?

1862

The Tenhassen Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Tenhassen (1862) and Wilbert (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 233164 years
Founding year: the first Tenhassen Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tenhassen 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 Tenhassen Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Tenhassen Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Tenhassen Township’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tenhassen Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tenhassen 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
Places that used to be

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

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Tenhassen
1862–1900
Wilbert
1898–1907
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Wilbert
Gone or out of use
Wilbert Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tenhassen Township
Saint Paul's LutheranTeitje FarmTenhassen

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Tenhassen Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tenhassen Township.

Read it all →

Tenhassen Township was organized in 1865. Tenhassen is a name derived from the Sioux language meaning "the tree of sweet juice".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tenhassen Township, 1862 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1862Post officeThe Tenhassen post office opens
  3. 1898Post officeThe Wilbert post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Tenhassen post office closes
  6. 1907Post officeThe Wilbert post office closes
  7. 1970On 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

Tenhassen Township on the map, 1970 to 1985

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

Tenhassen Township on the 1970 USGS mapTenhassen Township on the 1985 USGS map1970Wilbert 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 Tenhassen Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Tenhassen Township

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

See all →
Walter MondaleVice President of the United States from 1977 t… · b. 1928
Dale GardnerAmerican astronaut · b. 1948
D
Dixie WillsonAmerican writer, screenwriter · b. 1890
Michael IzenAmerican Roman Catholic minister, Auxiliary Bis… · b. 1967
K
Kay HalloranAmerican politician · b. 1937
C
Cuthbert Corwin HurdAmerican computer scientist · b. 1911
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Silver Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRolling Green TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake Belt TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Tenhassen Township’s history

What year was Tenhassen Township founded?

The Tenhassen Township post office opened in 1862, 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 Wikipedia, 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.