Collegeville Township’s post office opened in 1879, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #94 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Collegeville Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 17 buildings. Below: maps from 1965 on.
Founding year: the first Collegeville Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Collegeville Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Collegeville Township is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #94 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Collegeville Township’s overall grade.
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 Collegeville Township’s 50.7 sits above most of its state (93% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 17 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. 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 Collegeville Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
St. John's Indian Industrial School was a Native American residential school that operated in Collegeville from 1885 to 1896 that was run by Saint John's University. In 1888, Native residential school students made up 47 percent of the student population of Saint John's.
The disappearance of Joshua Guimond, a student at Saint John's University, happened on campus in 2002.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Collegeville Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1965Avon 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 Collegeville Township.
On the National Register
1 listing protects 17 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Collegeville Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Collegeville Township rank for history?
Collegeville Township is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #94 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.
What is on the National Register in Collegeville Township?
One place: the St. John's Abbey and University Historic District (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in Collegeville Township?
6% of Collegeville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
