Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #160 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1965 on, and the census since 1900.
The Albany post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1890.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Albany is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #160 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Albany’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Albany’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Albany yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Albany ( AWL-bə-nee) is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,780 at the 2020 census. It is part of the St. Cloud metropolitan area.
Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,561 to 2,780 (+9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Albany, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Albany Township. — The first school in the Township of Albany was taught in 1867 in a log building on Section 22 by Anthony Froehlich, twenty pupils being enrolled. The school was situated on the land of Mr. Obermiller, about half a mile
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Albany village is a flourishing settlement in the central part of Albany township, with a population of 900 people. It is well situated, and its position in a rich agricultural district makes it an important trading center. It has two railroads, the Great Northern and the "Soo" line.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereWilliam Lemke is born here
In the archiveAlbany Minn Oct 8 1911
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Albany. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Albany.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Albany’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 517 people in 1900 to 2,780 in 2020, 5 times over.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Albany’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Albany’s post office has been open since 1870.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Albany post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1890.
Albany is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #160 of 273 in Minnesota. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
14% of Albany’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1983.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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