Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Schech Mill. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1965 on, and the census since 1870.
Caledonia Township dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.
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 Caledonia Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Caledonia Township.
Caledonia was platted in 1854–1855. The town was named by founder Colonel Samuel McPhail for the ancient Roman word for Scotland. A post office has been in operation at Caledonia since 1855. Caledonia was incorporated in 1870, and was reincorporated in 1889.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Caledonia Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Houston County, died at his home in Caledonia, Wednesday evening, June 18, 1913. He was bom in Cologne, Germany, June 23, 1840, and there attended school. In 1858 he came to America and at once to Houston County, locating in Caledonia Township. Two years later he moved to the village of Caledonia, where he ever afterwards lived, becoming a great factor in the building up of the village. At the time it was incorporated he was elected one of the village trustees and served either as president of the council or as a trustee almost continuously until a few years before
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
District No. 39, Caledonia Township. The first school taught was in the log house of Nelson Haight, on section 28, in the fall of 1859. The teacher was Mrs. Mary Wheaton, who later became the wife of L. M. Brigham. The next school was in the house of G. N. Thompson, just west of Flynn's stone house, on section 33. In the summer of 1861 the teacher was Laura V. Haight. The next school was in Thompson's stone house. A schoolhouse was erected in 1863, on section 27. The first school within its walls was presided over by William Conniff, in the winter of 1863-64.
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.
In the archive1910postcardEpiscopalChurchCaledoniaMN
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.
2024Water tower cellular-2
2024Untitled photo
2023MN-44 through
2023Kwik Trip in
2023Houston County Airport-4
2023Houston County Airport-3
2023Caledonia, Minnesota
2023Caledonia water tower
2023Caledonia city hall and library
2023Caledonia Open Street Maps
2023Caledonia High School
2020Interior of Houston County Historical Society Museum
2020Houston County Historical Society Research Center
2020Houston County Historical Society Museum
2015Spafford-Williams Hotel NRHP 82002963 Houston County,…
2014Caledonia Commercial Historic DistrictEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Caledonia Township. 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 Caledonia Township.
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 Caledonia Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 470 and 2,965 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Caledonia Township’s Wikipedia page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1854, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1870 counted 470 people here.
One place: the Schech Mill (listed 1978).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1912
