More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #238 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Dayton was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2011. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1981 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Dayton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Dayton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dayton is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #238 of 273 in Minnesota. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dayton’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 Dayton’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 (±2.1 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 Dayton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dayton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Dayton is a city in Hennepin and Wright counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 7,262 at the 2020 census. According to 2025 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 11,402. Dayton is mainly located within Hennepin County, but a part of the city extends into Wright County as well. It is the northernmost city in Hennepin County and is a suburb of the Minneapolis–St. Paul "Twin Cities" metropolitan area. The city of Dayton, platted in 1855, is named for city founder, Lyman Dayton. Through his energy and finances, Lyman Dayton was instrumental in bringing the railroad into Minnesota and development of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad, of whic…
Its first post office opened in 1855. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,671 to 7,262 (+55%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Dayton, 1895–1905
Passages that mention Dayton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota1905Read the page →
Read the text
A larger church was built in the village of Dayton in 1866. During 1904 a fine edifice of red pressed brick was completed at a cost of nearly $40,000. The church will seat 800 people. It was dedicated November 24, 1904. The present priest is Rev. C. A. Pettigrew.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Maple Grove Station, on the Osseo branch of the Great Northern Rail¬ road, is just out of Maple Grove, on section 32, in the town of Dayton, where the railroad crosses the Minne¬ apolis and Monticello Road.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1856, and taught by Miss Sylvia Roe, who is still living, in the state of “single blessedness,” in the town of Dayton, this county. The school now furnishes emplo3unent for four teach¬ ers, and there are over two hundred pupils.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota1905 · page 175Read the page →
Read the text
The first settlers of Dayton were Paul G<xline anl Isaiah Cowet, who came to the town in July, 1852. Th^i same year J. Veine made a claim where the village of Dayton now is, and Marcellus Boulis, and Benjamin Livia settled near the river. In 1854 Francis Thorndyke, R. H. Miller and John Shumway settled in Dayton near the Champlin line. The following year came Dr. L.
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.
The Dayton post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Dayton rank for history?
Dayton is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #238 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.
How old are the homes in Dayton?
2% of Dayton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 2011.
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 (8), 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 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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