1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 20 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1868.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Blooming Prairie’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Blooming Prairie is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Blooming Prairie’s overall grade.
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 Blooming Prairie’s 109 sits above most of its state (97% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 20 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points). Two sources give 1856.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Blooming Prairie’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Blooming Prairie, building by building, 1910–1927
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.
1910Sheet 2 of 2
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Blooming Prairie was settled in 1856 and organized in 1867, being then called Oak Glen. The township received its present name in January 1873, taking the name of its railway village, which was platted in 1868. It is euphonious, referring to the abundant flowers of this prairie region, and it has the merit of uniqueness, with no other village or post office in the world having adopted this name.
A post office has been in operation at Blooming Prairie since 1868. The city was incorporated by 1874. Blooming Prairie's historic downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Blooming Prairie. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Blooming Prairie 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 Blooming Prairie.
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 view1906BloomingPrairieMN, 1906
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Blooming Prairie’s page.
In 1856, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Blooming Prairie’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1880 counted 338 people here.
How does Blooming Prairie rank for history?
Blooming Prairie is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns. 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 Blooming Prairie?
One place: the Blooming Prairie Commercial Historic District (listed 1994).
How old are the homes in Blooming Prairie?
25% of Blooming Prairie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (18), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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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