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History · Gorton

Gorton’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Gorton Township is a township in Grant County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 64 at the 2000 census. Gorton Township was organized in 1879.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 49 people in 2010, 49 in 2020. Half of its homes were built before 1938.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gorton yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Gorton’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from GortonWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Gorton.Meet them →
By decade

Gorton, 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.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Gorton is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Gorton has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Scofield, Anna J. Memorial Auditorium and Harold E. Thorson Memorial Library in Elbow Lake, 12.5 miles away.

Gorton and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Gorton. Tap a dot.
Scofield, Anna J. Memorial Auditorium and Harold E. Thorson Memorial LibraryGrant County CourthouseRoosevelt HallChicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul DepotDistrict No. 44 SchoolLarson's Hunters Resort

Closest to Gorton

Scofield, Anna J. Memorial Auditorium and Harold E. Thorson Memorial LibraryElbow Lake · Building12.5miGrant County CourthouseElbow Lake · Building12.6miRoosevelt HallBarrett · Building14.7miChicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul DepotWheaton · Building16miDistrict No. 44 SchoolTaylor · Built 189116.3mi

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. Scofield, Anna J. Memorial Auditorium and Harold E. Thorson Memorial Library’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Gorton?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Gorton’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
📜 Norcross📜 Delaware📜 North Ottawa📜 Herman
We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Gorton, MNGrant 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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