Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1869.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Collinwood Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Collinwood Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Collinwood 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 Collinwood Township’s 8.6 sits above most of its state (73% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points). Two sources give 1866.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Collinwood Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Collinwood Township was named after Collinwood, Canada, where the first settlers in the area came from. There is also a Collinwood Lake nearby. For a few years, the township was known as New Virginia (the 1870 U.S. Census lists it as such). In May of 1866, the first settlers came. They were Oliver Rasnick, Henry Fuller, George Fuller, and Jacob, Nancy, and Thomas Hutchins. The town was organized on May 8, 1866. The first Justice of the Peace was Oliver Rasnick. The first death was the child of E. K. and Jane Counts, who were from Virginia. In 1857, John Taylor and Elizabeth Hutchins were the first couple to be married there. Also that year, Alexander Ramsey married Margaret Hutchins. The population was 1,037 in the 2000 census.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Collinwood Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Dassel sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Collinwood Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Collinwood Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
In 1866, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Collinwood Township’s post office opened in 1869.
How does Collinwood Township rank for history?
Collinwood Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. 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 Collinwood Township?
One place: the District No. 48 School (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Collinwood Township?
16% of Collinwood Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1977.
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.
