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History · Mission Township

Half of Mission Township’s homes were built after 1976

Most of Mission Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1928 on and the census since 1910.

0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Mission 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 Mission Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mission Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Mission Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mission Township.

Read it all →

Mission Township was formed from Wood Lake School Township in the mid-1910s. The township is named in honor of the mission school established here in 1874 by the Grey Nuns, a Roman Catholic religious institute from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The school was established through the efforts of Major William H. Forbes, the first Indian agent on the Fort Totten Reservation, as the Spirit Lake Reservation was then known.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

Mission Township on the map, 1928 to 1994

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

Mission Township on the 1928 USGS mapMission Township on the 1931 USGS mapMission Township on the 1950 USGS mapMission Township on the 1975 USGS mapMission Township on the 1994 USGS map1928Tokio 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 Mission Township.

People over time

Mission Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020001,077

Grew from 72 people in 1910 to 1,077 in 2000, more than tenfold.

10 censuses, 1910–2000.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Mission Township

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

See all →
William L. GuyAmerican politician · b. 1919
P
Phyllis FrelichAmerican actress · b. 1944
G
Glenn HansenAmerican basketball player · b. 1952
Grant NelsonAmerican basketball player · b. 2002
D
David Anthony KraftAmerican comic book writer, publisher and critic · b. 1952
R
Ralph MaxwellMasters Athlete · b. 1919
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint Michael
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mission Township
Native AmericanSaint Michaels Catholic Church

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.

South Minnewaukan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCreel TownshipIts storyC−Wood Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLohnes TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mission Township’s history

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 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.