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History · Dora

Dora’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Dora. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Dora Township was organized on July 22, 1879, and was named in 1879 after Isadora Sedalia (Woodruff) Thomas, one of the first settlers in the area. Dora and her husband Ellis took a homestead in 1876 near the intersection of County Roads 4 and 41.

Many of the original settlers in the township were Germans who came in the 1880s.

The First Congregational Church of West Dora was incorporated in 1889. Dora Presbyterian Church incorporated in 1902. The Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. John's congregation, was incorporated in 1915.

Early religious organizations

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

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By decade

Dora, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Dora is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Dora has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Perham Village Hall and Fire Station in Perham, 12.1 miles away.

Dora and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Dora. Tap a dot.
Perham Village Hall and Fire StationO. A. E. Blyberg HousePeople's Union ChurchPhelps Mill Historic DistrictPhelps MillDistrict No. 182 School

Closest to Dora

Perham Village Hall and Fire StationPerham · Building12.1miO. A. E. Blyberg HousePelican Rapids · Building12.4miPeople's Union ChurchScambler · Building13miPhelps Mill Historic DistrictMaine · District13.7miPhelps MillMaine · Building13.7mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Perham Village Hall and Fire Station’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Dora?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Dora’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Star Lake📜 Vergas📜 Dent📜 Edna
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Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Dora, MNOtter Tail CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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