Most of Crosslake was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Crosslake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Crosslake’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Crosslake is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Crosslake’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 Crosslake’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 D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 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 Crosslake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area of what is now Crosslake, Minnesota, gained traction in the late 1800s, after the 1885 construction of the Pine River Dam. Northern Minnesota's logging industry was flourishing at the time, attracting many of Crosslake's first residents.
The area was originally part of Watertown Township in Cass County. The township was annexed to Crow Wing County in 1887. In 1951, the township's southern half became Crosslake Village. In 1964, the remainder became North Crosslake Village. They became Crosslake Village in 1972 and the City of Crosslake in 1974.
The Crosslake post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Crosslake rank for history?
Crosslake is more historic than 18% 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.
How old are the homes in Crosslake?
3% of Crosslake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 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.
