The story
Read it all →How Cohasset came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Cohasset.
A post office called Cohasset has been in operation since 1892. The city was named after Cohasset, Massachusetts.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Cohasset
Cohasset’s post office opened in 1892
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #204 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Cohasset was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1910.
1892first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Cohasset began
When was Cohasset founded?
1892
The Cohasset post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Compton (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 521 in 19102020 census: 2,689134 years
How historic is Cohasset?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Cohasset post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cohasset’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cohasset is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #204 of 273 in Minnesota. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cohasset’s overall grade.
Founding era1892, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.8% of homes (±3.3) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MN town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 25%
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 Cohasset’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Cohasset’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cohasset are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1930, then grew 8-fold.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Cohasset, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Cohasset’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cohasset’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Cohasset, census by census
Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1930, then grew 8-fold.
10 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cohasset’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Cohasset’s post office has been open since 1892. Another post office, Compton, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Compton
Cohasset
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bass BrookBass Brook CourtLakeview Terrace
Gone or out of use
Compton Post Officepost officeTioga Minemine
1cemetery inside Cohasset
Wildwood
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Cohasset, 1891 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1891Post officeThe Compton post office opens
- 1892Post officeThe Compton post office closes
- 1892Post officeThe Cohasset post office opens
- 20th century
- 1953
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 21st century
- 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 2,698
By decade
Cohasset, decade by decade
2025
2025
2005On the map
Cohasset on the map, 1953 to 1969
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cohasset. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1953Cohasset East sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cohasset.
Every building
Cohasset, building by building, 1909–1922
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.
1909Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Cohasset
Nobody well known was born in Cohasset itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Cohasset’s history
What year was Cohasset founded?
The Cohasset post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cohasset rank for history?
Cohasset is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #204 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.
How old are the homes in Cohasset?
6% of Cohasset’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1989.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.