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History · Wilmont

Wilmont’s post office opened in 1900, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and old-book passages.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wilmont’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wilmont began

When was Wilmont founded?

1900

The Wilmont post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 332126 years
Founding year: the first Wilmont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Wilmont’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Wilmont’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wilmont’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wilmont’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewWilmont Township, MN, 1914: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Wilmont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wilmont.

Read it all →

The town of Wilmont was established in 1899. The town was named in a roundabout way after the township in which it was located.

Willmont Township (note the double-L) was established in 1878. There was a general disagreement over the township name, one faction wishing to call it Willumet, and the other favoring Lamont. On November 22, 1878, a compromise was reached, and the township was formally named Willmont.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Wilmont in 1908

Passages that mention Wilmont, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In 1900 he came to the new town of Wilmont, Nobles county, and founded the First National Bank of Wilmont. He served as cashier for a time, was later made president, and still holds that position. He left \'''ilmont in February, 1906, and accepted the position as cashier of the Adrian State Bank, o…
An illustrated history of Nobles County, Minnesota1908 · page 571Read the page →
Read the text

In 1900 he came to the new town of Wilmont, Nobles county, and founded the First National Bank of Wilmont. He served as cashier for a time, was later made president, and still holds that position. He left \'''ilmont in February, 1906, and accepted the position as cashier of the Adrian State Bank, of which institution he is now the

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He came to the new village of Wilmont August 20, 1900, and for two years was a contractor and builder, and erected many of Wilmont's business houses and residences.
An illustrated history of Nobles County, Minnesota1908 · page 536Read the page →
Read the text

He came to the new village of Wilmont August 20, 1900, and for two years was a contractor and builder, and erected many of Wilmont's business houses and residences.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Wilmont, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Wilmont Township, MN, 1914Date?Wilmont Township, MN, 1914
Today1 recent
MNMap-doton-Wilmont2005MNMap-doton-Wilmont
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Wilmont Township, MN, 1914
Retake this viewWilmont Township, MN, 1914

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Wilmont’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Wilmont

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

See all →
H
Harold HotellingAmerican statistician and econometrician · b. 1895
A
Arvid KramerAmerican basketball player · b. 1956
Patricia A. ThielAmerican chemist · b. 1953
C
Cedric AdamsAmerican broadcaster · b. 1902
L
Lloyd VossAmerican football player · b. 1942
R
Robert J. TennessenAmerican politician from Minnesota · b. 1939
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Wilmont’s post office has been open since 1900.

Gone or out of use
Wilmontlocale

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.

Wilmont Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLarkin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Wilmont’s history

What year was Wilmont founded?

The Wilmont post office opened in 1900, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.