Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Dakota post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Dakota’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dakota.
Dakota was incorporated on May 23, 1951. It was laid out in 1855 and developed in 1859 by Nathan Brown, who came to Minnesota in 1847, had a stockyard, and ran a ferry service to Wisconsin. Once the center of berry growing, the main industry is now apple growing.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Dakota, cut from the printed page as they were published.
same time substantial growth and prosperity in the North-West. It owes its being to the opening up of the region by the Northern Pacific railway as do the other now prosperous towns along the line. Fargo is the county seat of Cass county, Dakota, situated on the west bank of the Red river and is a prominent station of the Northern Pacific railroad. The shops and engine houses of the Dakota division of the road are located here.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
November, 1883, was stationed at Lamoure, Dakota Territory, where he remained till the following April. In the summer of 1884 he took charge of the First Presbyterian church at Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he has since remained. lie is a man of extensive and versatile knowledge, a thorough scholar and a forcible speaker. He is a powerful ora¬
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.
Nobody well known was born in Dakota itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Dakota post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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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