Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Western 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 · Western Township

Western Township’s post office opened in 1872, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1910 on.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Western Township began

When was Western Township founded?

1872

The Western Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Western (1872) and Roberts (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 117154 years
Founding year: the first Western Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Western 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 Western Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Western Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Western Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Western Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Western 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

Western Township, in brief

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

Western Township is a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 117 at the 2020 census. Western Township was organized in 1873, and so named due to its location in the western part of the county.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 129 to 117 (-9%).

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

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.

Western
1872–1906
Roberts
1897–1906
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
RobertsWestern
Gone or out of use
Roberts Post Officepost officeSchool Number 243schoolSchool Number 264schoolSchool Number 49schoolSchool Number 56schoolWestern Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Western Township
Emmanuel Lutheran ChurchWesternWestern Presbyterian

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

Timeline

Western Township, 1872 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Western post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Roberts post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Post officeThe Western post office closes
  6. 1906Post officeThe Roberts post office closes
  7. 1910On 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

Western Township on the map, 1910 to 1973

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

Western Township on the 1910 USGS mapWestern Township on the 1973 USGS map1910Wendell sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Western Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Orwell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAastad TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLawrence TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBradford TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Western Township’s history

What year was Western Township founded?

The Western Township post office opened in 1872, 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.