History · Alexandria

Alexandria’s post office opened in 1858, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #59 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 74 buildings. Below: 23 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.

1858first post office

8on the National Register

11%homes built before 1940

23old photos & papers

16famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Alexandria’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Alexandria began

When was Alexandria founded?

1858

The Alexandria post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,355 in 18802020 census: 14,335168 years

How historic is Alexandria?

B⁺

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Alexandria post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Alexandria’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alexandria is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #59 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alexandria’s overall grade.

Founding era1858, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194010.7% of homes (±2.3) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%B⁻National Register8 listings, 81 historic buildings, 55.0 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 65%

NewerOlder

Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 79%

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 Alexandria’s 55.0 sits above most of its state (94% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 81 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Alexandria’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos23 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1908.A historic districtThe Alexandria Residential Historic District takes in 74 historic buildings.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1922, drew every building in Alexandria.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.

★ What stands out · By decade

Alexandria, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

On the National Register

8 listings protect 81 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1977

Knute Nelson House

BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Craftsman2

Italianate1

Gothic1

Renaissance Revival1

Beaux Arts1

Victorian Romanesque1

Knute Nelson HouseItalianate

U.S. Post Office-AlexandriaRenaissance Revival

Great Northern Passenger DepotBuilding

Alexandria Public LibraryBeaux Arts · Built 1903

Douglas County CourthouseVictorian Romanesque

Noah P. Ward HouseEnglish Tudor

Thomas F. Cowing HouseGothic Cottage

All 8 listings

Alexandria Residential Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1991

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Alexandria, building by building, 1885–1922

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Alexandria fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 2

1885Sheet 2 of 3

Edition

Sheets

+2 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Alexandria came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alexandria.

Read it all →

First settled in 1858, it was named after brothers Alexander and William Kinkead from Maryland. The form of the name alludes to Alexandria, Egypt, a center of learning and civilization.

The village of Alexandria was incorporated February 20, 1877. Its city charter was adopted in 1908, and it was incorporated as a city in 1909. W. E. Hicks was pivotal to the town's early development. He purchased the townsite in 1868 and established a mill, hotel, newspaper, and store. He donated property for a courthouse, jail, and two churches: Methodist and Congregational.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alexandria, 1858 to 1966

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1858Post officeThe Alexandria post office opens
1880In the archiveFirst Baptist Church, Alexandria, Minnesota - DPLA - 521a6e02107b59854ea3a1c9680d77c5
1881Born hereCarl Van Dyke is born here
1889Born hereEdward Hanson is born here
20th century
1903BuiltAlexandria Public Library is built
1907In the archiveThree Havens - Alexandria, Minn
1925Born hereDuane Hanson is born here
1965Born herePeter Krause is born here
1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

On the map

Alexandria on the map, 1966 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alexandria. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1966Alexandria West sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alexandria.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewFirst Baptist Church, Alexandria, Minnesota - DPLA - 521a6e02107b59854ea3a1c9680d77c5, 1880–1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Alexandria’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Alexandria, census by census

Grew from 1,355 people in 1880 to 14,335 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Alexandria’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

16 famous people were born in Alexandria

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Peter KrauseAmerican actor · b. 1965

Duane HansonAmerican sculptor · b. 1925

Carl Van DykeAmerican congressman for Minnesota · b. 1881

Edward HansonU.S. Navy Vice admiral and Governor of American… · b. 1889

Dave DalbyAmerican football center · b. 1950

John McEwanAmerican football player and coach · b. 1893

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Alexandria’s post office has been open since 1858.

Hamlets and corners on the map

Alexandria Mobile EstatesHiview ParkHustad Mobile Home ParkMobile Park EstatesOlson's Mobile Park

1cemetery inside Alexandria

Kinkead

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Alexandria’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewFirst Baptist Church, Alexandria, Minne…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Alexandria TownshipIts storyC⁻La Grand TownshipIts storyC⁻Lake Mary TownshipIts storyC Carlos Township3 historic placesB Hudson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alexandria’s history

What year was Alexandria founded?

The Alexandria post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Alexandria rank for history?

Alexandria is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #59 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.

What is on the National Register in Alexandria?

8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Knute Nelson House (listed 1977, the first), and 1 historic district, the Alexandria Residential Historic District, with 74 contributing buildings. 81 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Alexandria?

11% of Alexandria’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1984.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (2), the Library of Congress (21), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), Wikipedia, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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