Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #238 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Byron was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1880.
Byron dates its founding to 1864 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Byron is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #238 of 273 in Minnesota. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Byron’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: 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 →
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 Byron’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Byron.
Byron was platted in 1864. A post office called Byron has been in operation since 1868. by George W. Van Dusen which he named after his birthplace of Byron, New York. Byron was incorporated on February 12, 1873. Before the town was established, a small community known as Bear Grove was west of present-day Byron.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Byron, cut from the printed page as they were published.
him, a Jacksonian Democrat, and is also active in all prohibition movements. He is an active member of Custer Post, No. 44, of the Grand Army of the Republic. During President Cleveland's administration he served two terms as postmaster of Byron and fourteen years as mayor of Byron. He is also a director in the State Bank of Byron. In religious views Mr. Hicks is a Universalist, and is regarded by all who know him as one of the men interested in any movement for the good of country, county and home.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
was a disappointment. It showed a shrinkage of 990 in the population of the county since the census of 1880. The only increases in population were 210 in the city of Rochester, 1 1 1 in Orion township and 39 in the village of Byron. All the other townships and villages had decreased. The decrease was chiefly in the farming population. Immigration to the county had ceased and Olmsted had become essentially an old county. There were but few farms for sale, but as a result of the uncertainties of grain raising farmers
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Byron. 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 Byron.
Grew from 222 people in 1880 to 6,312 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Byron’s Wikipedia page.
Byron’s post office has been open since 1868. Another post office, Bear Grove, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1864, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Byron’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1880 counted 222 people here.
Byron is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #238 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.
2% of Byron’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 2000.
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 (6), 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 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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