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History · Zumbrota Township

Zumbrota Township dates to 1856, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1880.

1856founded
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Zumbrota Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Zumbrota Township began

When was Zumbrota Township founded?

1856

Zumbrota Township dates its founding to 1856 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 797 in 18802020 census: 619170 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1876.The full story ↓

What stands out about Zumbrota 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Zumbrota Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Zumbrota Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1909-09-21postcardGovJohnsonFuneralTrai…: stand where they stood+15Share 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.

White Willow
1876–1905
Forest Mills
1879–1898
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Forest MillsWhite Willow
Gone or out of use
Forest Mills Post Officepost officeWhite WillowlocaleWhitewillow Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Zumbrota Township
Zumbrota East

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

The story

How Zumbrota Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Zumbrota Township.

Read it all →

Zumbrota was claimed as a town in 1856 by Joseph Bailey and D.B. Goddard. The name Zumbrota appears to have resulted from a corruption of the French name for the local Zumbro River, Rivière des Embarras (Obstruction River), coupled with the Dakota toŋ (village).

Zumbrota is home to the Zumbrota Covered Bridge, the last functioning covered bridge in the state of Minnesota. It was originally installed in 1869, one year before the arrival of railroads to the area. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Zumbrota Public Library was the first tax-supported library in Minnesota.

The city of Zumbrota celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2006.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Zumbrota Township, 1856 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856
    FoundingZumbrota Township is established
  3. 1876Post officeThe White Willow post office opens
  4. 1879Post officeThe Forest Mills post office opens
  5. 1898Post officeThe Forest Mills post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1905Post officeThe White Willow post office closes
  8. 1909In the archive1909-09-21postcardGovJohnsonFuneralTrainZumbrotaMN
  9. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Zumbrota Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
1909-09-21postcardGovJohnsonFuneralTrainZumbrotaMN19091909-09-21postcardGovJohnsonFuneralTrainZumbrotaMNPostcard
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for Zumbrota, Minnesota20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for Zumbrota,…BookN Fk Zumbro2005N Fk ZumbroMNMap-doton-Zumbrota2005MNMap-doton-ZumbrotaZumbrotatrailbridge2003Zumbrotatrailbridge
On the map

Zumbrota Township on the map, 1968 to 1985

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

Zumbrota Township on the 1968 USGS mapZumbrota Township on the 1985 USGS map1968Mazeppa 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 Zumbrota Township.

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.

1909-09-21postcardGovJohnsonFuneralTrainZumbrotaMN
Retake this view1909-09-21postcardGovJohnsonFuneralTrainZumbrotaMN, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Zumbrota Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000188019001920194019601980200020203,726

Grew from 797 people in 1880 to 3,726 in 2020, 4 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Zumbrota Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Zumbrota2 historic placesBChester Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMinneola TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPine Island Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGoodhue TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Zumbrota Township’s history

What year was Zumbrota Township founded?

In 1856, according to Wikidata. Zumbrota Township’s post office opened in 1876, and the census of 1880 counted 797 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.