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History · Cleveland

Cleveland dates to 1854, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1965 on, and the census since 1880.

1854founded
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cleveland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cleveland began

When was Cleveland founded?

1854

Cleveland dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 156 in 18802020 census: 747172 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1856.The full story ↓

What stands out about Cleveland’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cleveland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cleveland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGeldner Sawmill in: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Cleveland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cleveland.

Read it all →

Cleveland was established as a village in 1854, and incorporated as a city in 1904. The community was named after Cleveland, Ohio.

Under its original founders, Cleveland was a temperance town and thus voted no licensing of saloons in the town.

In 1859, Cleveland and nearby Le Sueur began a heated rivalry over the role of the Le Sueur county seat. The rivalry continued with only minor bloodshed until 1875, when a group of Cleveland citizens organized a militia to take the county seat by force. The militia retrieved the county seat from Le Sueur. After more than year of holding the county seat, Le Center agreed to take the seat where remains today.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cleveland, 1854 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854
    FoundingCleveland is established
  3. 1856Post officeThe Grandville post office opens
  4. 1857Post officeThe Grandville post office closes
  5. 1857Post officeThe Cleveland post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1980In the archiveGeldner Sawmill in
By decade

Cleveland, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s2 items
Geldner Sawmill in1980Geldner Sawmill inGeldner Sawmill1980Geldner Sawmill
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
Date unknown1 to date
Bridge No. 4930, Carries Trunk Highway 99 (Broadway Avenue) over the Minnesota River to Le Sueur County, Saint Peter, N…Date?Bridge No. 4930, Carries Trunk Highway 99 (Broadway A…
Today2 recent
Cleveland, Minnesota2006Cleveland, MinnesotaMNMap-doton-Cleveland2005MNMap-doton-Cleveland
On the map

Cleveland on the map, 1965 to 1985

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

Cleveland on the 1965 USGS mapCleveland on the 1979 USGS mapCleveland on the 1985 USGS map1965Cleveland 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 Cleveland.

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.

Geldner Sawmill in
Retake this viewGeldner Sawmill in, 1980

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Cleveland, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020747

Grew from 156 people in 1880 to 747 in 2020, 4 times over.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Cleveland

Nobody well known was born in Cleveland itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Mike LindellAmerican businessman, political activist, and c… · b. 1961
Ron JohnsonAmerican politician · b. 1955
Rick RudeAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1958
W
William James MayoAmerican surgeon · b. 1861
Jimmy ChinAmerican mountain climber, filmmaker · b. 1973
John LandsteinerAmerican male curler · b. 1990
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Cleveland’s post office has been open since 1857. Another post office, Grandville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Grandville
1856–1857
Cleveland
1857–today
18501940today

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

Questions about Cleveland’s history

What year was Cleveland founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cleveland’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1880 counted 156 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.