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History · Melville

Melville’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Melville. 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

Melville Township is a township in Renville County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 242 at the 2000 census. Melville Township was organized in 1878.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 225 to 194 (-14%). Half of its homes were built before 1972.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Melville 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 Melville’s collection

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

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

Melville, 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 Melville is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Melville has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Tinnes-Baker House in Bird Island, 4.1 miles away.

Melville and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Melville. Tap a dot.
Tinnes-Baker HouseRenville County Courthouse and JailHeins BlockBirch CouleeMinneapolis and St. Louis DepotBirch Coulee School

Closest to Melville

Tinnes-Baker HouseBird Island · Building4.1miRenville County Courthouse and JailBird Island · Building5.3miHeins BlockOlivia · Commercial Queen Anne8.7miBirch CouleeBirch Cooley · Site15miMinneapolis and St. Louis DepotFairfax · Built 188316.8mi

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. Tinnes-Baker House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Melville?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Melville’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
📜 Bird Island📜 Hector📜 Bird Island📜 Palmyra
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Melville, MNRenville 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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