Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #77 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Akerlund, August, Photographic Studio. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
Cokato dates its founding to 1869 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cokato is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #77 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 Cokato’s 3.6 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Cokato’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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Cokato.
Cokato was founded in 1869 when the First Division of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad was extended to that point. The city was named after a Dakota word meaning 'amid'. Cokato was incorporated as a village in 1878.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Cokato, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Middleville, as created by the county commissioners in 1858, embraced townships 118 and 119, ranges 27 and 28. The first election was held May 11, 1858. In 1861, the present towns of Cokato and Stockholm were set off, and formed the town of Mooers’ Prairie. Only five voters were present at the first meeting which was held at the house of Samuel Pafet, near Cokato lake. William Putnam was elected chairman, The assessor was William Lee. In July, 1868, township 119, range 28, was set aside
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Cokato, located on Section 14, in the township of the same name, on what was then known as Mooers’ prairie, at the outlet of Cokato lake, was also a widely advertised town. The glowing description of the advantages of this then-ealled ‘‘Gem City of the West,’’ brought many dollars into the pockets of the shrewd original owners, but it was many decades before Cokato began to grow into the prosperous and thriving village that it now is, several miles from its original namesake.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The next morning the sixteen soldiers stationecl at the Holmes house, the live from Fair Haven, ami other seoiits starteil o\it about sunrise, came upon tlie Indians" camp, and finally', in the present township of Cokato, discovered the two Indians at rest under a tree, while their horses were feeding in a small meadow. Over seventeen shots were tired at the Indians froin ambush at shoi't range, but none took eft'ect, and the retl men .jumped on tlieii' horses and escaped through the woods, leaving behind sev-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the summer of 1857 many of the new settlers raised good crops, some went to work on the railroad, and prosperity followed. The railroad reached Cokato village July 1, 1869. Since then Cokato has been a land of plenty. For many years wheat was raised almost exclusively on what had been wild prairie land. The farmers imported meat and butter from Minneapolis and other places. But the change gradually came, and the people are now engaged for the most part in diversified farming and
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 Survey
Born hereDavid Bromstad is born here
Born hereAlondra Cano is born here
In the archiveHenry C. Bull HouseOne decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cokato. 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 Cokato.
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 Cokato’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 274 people in 1880 to 2,799 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cokato’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Cokato’s post office has been open since 1878. Another post office, Moor's Prairie, 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 1869, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cokato’s post office opened in 1862, and the census of 1880 counted 274 people here.
Cokato is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #77 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.
One place: the Akerlund, August, Photographic Studio (listed 1977).
23% of Cokato’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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