Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #16 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 10 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1870.
Caledonia dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Caledonia is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #16 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 Caledonia’s 53.2 sits above most of its state (94% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Caledonia’s history is told.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Caledonia’s post office has been open since 1855.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Caledonia.
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, cut from the printed page as they were published.
La Crescent, Houston, Spring Grove, Caledonia, and Money Creek, have each a school house containing two rooms. The finest of these is the one at Money Creek, the worst one is at Caledonia.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
that its graduates could enter the State University. This school was conducted until 1880 when the State high school course was introduced and the demand for such a school was supplied by the public school The post office was established in Caledonia in 1854. Before that the people received their mail at Brownsville, and it was brought to Caledonia by anyone who happened to be making the journey. When the post office was established regular mail routes were organized, and in the early sixties the people were receiving mail three times a week. The office became a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
"La Crescent, Houston, Spring Grove, Caledonia and Money Creek, have each a schoolhouse containing two rooms. The finest of these is the one at Money Creek. Caledonia has far outgrown her schoolhouse, and two departments are located in a rented building.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In November the first meeting was held to see about building a railroad from Caledonia. The projectors took the name of the Caledonia and Mississippi Railroad. Joseph Till was employed as engineer, and an organization was effected.
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. 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.
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’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’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1854, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Caledonia’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1870 counted 470 people here.
Caledonia is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #16 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Williams, Spafford, Hotel (listed 1982, the first), and 1 historic district, the Caledonia Commercial Historic District, with 10 contributing buildings. 15 historic buildings in all.
32% of Caledonia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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