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History · Parnell

Parnell’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Parnell. 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

Parnell Township is a township in Polk County, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Grand Forks-ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 87 at the 2000 census. Parnell Township was named for Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–1891), an Irish politician.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 61 people in 2010, 61 in 2020. Half of its homes were built before 1958.

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

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

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

Parnell, 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 Parnell is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Parnell has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Red River Trail: Goose Lake Swamp Section in Polk Centre, 6.7 miles away.

Parnell and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Parnell. Tap a dot.
Red River Trail: Goose Lake Swamp SectionE. C. Davis HouseChurch of St. Peter-CatholicCrookston Carnegie Public LibraryCathedral of the Immaculate ConceptionCrookston Commercial Historic District

Closest to Parnell

Red River Trail: Goose Lake Swamp SectionPolk Centre · Site6.7miE. C. Davis HouseCrookston · Building8miChurch of St. Peter-CatholicGentilly · Building8.2miCrookston Carnegie Public LibraryCrookston · Built 19088.5miCathedral of the Immaculate ConceptionCrookston · Built 19908.5mi

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. Red River Trail: Goose Lake Swamp Section’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Parnell?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Parnell’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
📜 Crookston📜 Belgium📜 Louisville📜 Fanny
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Parnell, MNPolk 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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