Townships of Kandiyohi County

Arctander

• Arctander township was organized in 1879 and was named for John W. Arctander, an attorney who was born in Stockholm, Sweden 2 Oct 1849 and was a resident of the township 1876-1886.

Burbank

• Burbank township was organized in 1866 and was named for Henry Clay Burbank, a merchant from St. Paul, Minnesota.

Colfax

• Colfax township was organized in 1871. It was first called Lake Prairie, but later the name was changed to Colfax in honor of Schuyler Colfax, Vice President of the United States, 1869-1873.

Dovre

• Dovre township was organized 6 April 1869. The first Norwegian settlers called the hilly terrain in the township "Dovre Hills" because they were reminded of the Dovrefjeld mountains that border Norway and Sweden.

East Lake Lillian

• East Lake Lillian township was organized 6 March 1893 and named for the lake it borders.

Edwards

• Edwards township was organized 7 Sept 1871 and named in honor of the early pioneer, S.S. Edwards.

Fahlon

• Fahlon township was organized 20 March 1877 and named for the county in Sweden where many of its earliest pioneers originated..

Gennessee

• Gennessee township was organized in 1858 and named for the Gennessee River area in New York where where many of the township's settlers originated.

Green Lake

• Green Lake township was organized Jan 1868 and named for the lake on its Northern boundary. A townsite was chosen on the Southwest shore of Green Lake. This town was originally called Columbia, but later became Spicer, Minnesota.

Harrison

• Harrison township was organized on 25 April 1858 and named for Joseph D. Harris who settled there in August 1857. He was born in Nova Scotia in May 1834 and died 7 May 1878.

Holland

• Holland township was organized 23 July 1888 and named for the many settlers who were from Holland, although there were some Swedish and German immigrants in the township also.

Irving

• Irving township was organized 27 March 1868 and was named for the town located on the East side of Greenlake....and possibly for author, Washington Irving.

Kandiyohi

• Kandiyohi township was organized 1 March 1868 at which time it included the present townships of Fahlun, Whitefield and Willmar. The township was named for the Kandiyohi lakes.

Lake Andrew

• Lake Andrew township was organized 19 March 1872. An early settler, Andrew Holes named the township in 1857..

Lake Elizabeth

• Lake Elizabeth township was organized 16 April 1869 and named for Lake Elizabeth on the Northern boundary of the township. It was named in honor of the wife of lawyer, A.C. Smith. Two other lakes in Gennessee township, Lake Ella and Lake Carrie are named for her daughters.

Lake Lillian

• Lake Lillian township was organized 23 Jan 1872. The name was taken from the lake that lies on its Western border. Lake Lillian was named for the wife of artist Edward Whitefield, who first came to the area in 1856.

Mamre

• Mamre township was organized 6 April 1870. The name was taken from an area lake..

New London

• New London township was organized 25 Aug 1866 and the name was taken from the nearby village of New London. The town was named by Louis Larson who was from New London, Wisc.

Norway Lake

• Norway Lake township was organized Aug 1866. Originally, Norway Lake township included the townships of Arctander, Lake Andrew, Mamre and Dovre. It took its name from the lake that lies in the Southeastern sections of the township and around which many Norwegian immigrants settled.

Regal

• Regal township is Kandiyohi County's northernmost community and was organized in 1915. At first they called Regal Linton, after the "Soo" Line railroad contractors, who'd helped build that part of the "Soo" trackage.  It wasn't long before it was discovered that another town in Minnesota had taken the same name.  The name was changed to Lintonville.  The post office department objected to this name because there were many towns in Minnesota whose names already ended in "ville" that is was felt that another name of this type would only compound the confusion.  The postmaster, George Weidner, suggested several names, but none were acceptable to the post office department.  A local farmer, who'd just purchased his first Model "T" Ford, suggested that the town be named Ford.  Mr. Weidner, however, owned a Regal.  To be fair, he submitted three automobile names - Ford, Regal and Harvard.  The post office department selected Regal, and that's been the name of the town ever since.

Roseland

• Roseland township was organized 16 March 1889 and was named by the first settler, Peter Lindquist who came to the township in 1869. The name refers to a Swedish flower garden.

Roseville

• Roseville township was organized 25 Aug 1866 and was named for the many wild roses that were found blooming there.

St. Johns

• St. Johns township was organized March 1872. The name comes from a proposed Catholic settlement on its northern boundary line. A lake in Sections 1 and 2 of this township also bears the name St. John's Lake.

Whitefield

• Whitefield township was established 6 June 1870. A member of an early exploring party, Edwin Whitefield, gave his name to this township and a proposed townsite in 1856. Another township, Lake Lillian, was named for his wife.

Willmar

• Willmar township took its name from the village of Willmar that was platted in 1869. The township was organized 4 Jan 1870. The townsite was named in honor of Leon Willmar, an agent for the St.Paul and Pacific railroad.

This diagram represents the general arrangement of the Kandiyohi Co. townships

North

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