PLAINVIEW Township, settled in 1854 and organized May 11, 1858, took the name of its city, platted in the summer of 1857 and incorporated as a village on March 9, 1875, and reincorporated on June 10, 1908. The village was at first called Centerville but was changed when the post office was applied for in 1857 because another place in this state had been earlier so named. "In view of location, it being the watershed of the Zumbro and Whitewater Rivers, and in plain view of a large tract of surrounding country, the name was changed to Plainview" (Mitchell and Curtis, 1870, p. 140). Villages in Illinois, Nebraska, and four other states also bear this name. The township contains Carley State Park, established in 1949 and named for James A. Carley, a state senator, 1915-29 and 1935-51, who donated much of the land.