Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Detroit Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1986 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Detroit Township is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Detroit Township’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.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
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 Detroit Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Detroit Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Detroit Township is a township in Becker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,033 as of the 2010 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,033 to 2,093 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Detroit Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
little before reaching the present site of the club house the road took to the gravelly beach of the lake, which it followed for some distance, and again took to the water's edge where it crossed the Pelican River in Detroit Township. It then passed up by the old Tyler House, wound around into the southeast corner of the original townsite of Detroit, then back around by F. B. Chapin's house, thence northeasterly about half way between the Richwood road and the Pelican River, thence around nearly to where
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Detroit Township.
1986Detroit Lakes sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Detroit Township.
Nobody well known was born in Detroit Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Detroit Township is more historic than 24% 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.
9% of Detroit Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1979.
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).
From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
