Cedar Mills Township was organized in January 1870, its name came from the village founded ten years earlier. The title is a combination of "Cedar Lake," a body of water with numerous red cedars, and the flour and saw Mills located on the South Fork of the Crow River. The first settler was Daniel Avery Cross who established his home in 1856. During the time of the Dakota War War, Postmaster, H.J. Lasher, buried the records and supplies of the office and there was no post office in the community for several years.

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Around 1920, the Electric Short Line Railroad Company saw that there no trees in Cedar Mills, and began making plans to lay track near or through Cedar Mills. In response, the town moved 1/2 mile to the south on what is now Minnesota State Highway 7. As the book, "Meeker County Memories" states, there was "no trees or mills." The railroad line was named the "Luce Line," and is now a 63-mile state trail.

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Corvuso is another Cedar Mills Township community that's located 5 miles west of Cedar Mills. The name comes from an Indian word that means "Gathering place for crows." The original site was one mile east and 1/2 mile north of the present location.