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History · Walcott Township

Walcott Township’s post office opened in 1856, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

1856first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Walcott Township began

When was Walcott Township founded?

1856

The Walcott Township post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Walcott (1856) and Eklund (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 929170 years
Founding year: the first Walcott Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Walcott 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 Walcott Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Walcott Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Walcott Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Walcott 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 and burying grounds

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

Walcott
1856–1901
Eklund
1897–1905
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Walcott
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Walcott Township
DenisonEklundWoodman

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

The story so far

Walcott Township, in brief

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

Walcott Township is a township in Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 984 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Prairieville and Ruskin are both partially located within the township. Settled in the 1850s, Walcott Township was named for Samuel Walcott, an early settler.

Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 953 to 929 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Walcott Township, 1856 to 1905

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Walcott post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Eklund post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Walcott post office closes
  6. 1905Post officeThe Eklund post office closes
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
Famous people

Famous people close to Walcott Township

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

See all →
E. G. MarshallAmerican actor · b. 1914
A
Arthur FryAmerican inventor · b. 1931
Andrew VolsteadAmerican politician · b. 1859
Tom LiebAmerican discus thrower and football player · b. 1899
J
Joel D. WynkoopAmerican film director · b. 1960
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Faribault42 historic placesA−Cannon City TownshipIts storyC+Warsaw TownshipIts storyC+Richland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMedford TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Walcott Township’s history

What year was Walcott Township founded?

The Walcott Township post office opened in 1856, 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 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.