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History · Freeborn Township

Freeborn Township’s post office opened in 1890

Most of Freeborn Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1930 on.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Freeborn Township began

When was Freeborn Township founded?

1890

The Freeborn Township post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Freeborn (1890) and Hamar (1906), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 65136 years
Founding year: the first Freeborn Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Freeborn Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Freeborn 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 and old corners

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

Freeborn
1890–1908
Hamar
1906–1974
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hamar

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

The story so far

Freeborn Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 102 to 65 (-36%).

Timeline

Freeborn Township, 1890 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Freeborn post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Hamar post office opens
  5. 1908Post officeThe Freeborn post office closes
  6. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1974Post officeThe Hamar 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.
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On the map

Freeborn Township on the map, 1930 to 1962

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

Freeborn Township on the 1930 USGS mapFreeborn Township on the 1962 USGS map1930Hamar 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 Freeborn Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dayton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEddy TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMinco TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townColvin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Freeborn Township’s history

What year was Freeborn Township founded?

The Freeborn Township post office opened in 1890, 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.