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C+History
History · Dodge Center

Dodge Center’s post office opened in 1893, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #143 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.

1893first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dodge Center began

When was Dodge Center founded?

1893

The Dodge Center post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Dodge Centre (1867), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 726 in 18802020 census: 2,844133 years

How historic is Dodge Center?

C+

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Dodge Center post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Dodge Center’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dodge Center is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #143 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dodge Center’s overall grade.
Founding era1893, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194018.3% of homes (±5.3) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MN town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 38%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 48%

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 Dodge Center’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 C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). 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 Dodge Center’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Dodge Center are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1910, drew every building in Dodge Center.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dodge Center’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dodge Center’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Dodge Center, building by building, 1894–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Dodge Center fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Dodge Center came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dodge Center.

Read it all →

The Dodge Center area was first settled by pioneers in the 1850s. The town was created by the railroad system and named for its central location within Dodge County, Minnesota, which was named for Henry Dodge, twice the governor of Wisconsin.

The first train to reach Dodge Center arrived on July 13, 1866. Shortly after, D.L. Tyler moved to Dodge Center from Ashland (which had no railroad) and built its first general store in 1867. Tyler also became the town's first postmaster.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dodge Center, 1865 to 1965

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865Born herePerry Greeley Holden is born here
  3. 1867Post officeThe Dodge Centre post office opens
  4. 1891Born hereMilton L. Humason is born here
  5. 1893Post officeThe Dodge Centre post office closes
  6. 1893Post officeThe Dodge Center post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1923Born hereShirley Ardell Mason is born here
  9. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Dodge Center, decade by decade

Today13 recent
Dodge Center, Minnesota2024Dodge Center, MinnesotaDodge Center airport2024Dodge Center airportMain Street, Dodge Center, Minnesota, 1800s2013Main Street, Dodge Center, Minnesota, 1800sDodge Center.19082013Dodge Center.1908Dodge Center, MN --- Early 1900s2013Dodge Center, MN --- Early 1900sDodge Center School 19002013Dodge Center School 1900Dodge Center High School2013Dodge Center High SchoolDCHS Girls Basketball 19222013DCHS Girls Basketball 1922DCHS Baseball - Early 1900s2013DCHS Baseball - Early 1900s1911.Store in20131911.Store inDodge Center School - 18862012Dodge Center School - 1886Ktobmap2011KtobmapDodge Center, Minnesota 52010Dodge Center, Minnesota 5
On the map

Dodge Center on the map, 1965 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dodge Center. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Dodge Center on the 1965 USGS mapDodge Center on the 1982 USGS map1965Dodge Center sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dodge Center.

People over time

Dodge Center, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000188019001920194019601980200020202,844

Grew from 726 people in 1880 to 2,844 in 2020, 3 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dodge Center’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Dodge Center

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
M
Milton L. HumasonAmerican astronomer · b. 1891
S
Shirley Ardell MasonAmerican artist · b. 1923
Perry Greeley HoldenAmerican agronomist · b. 1865
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Dodge Center’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Dodge Centre, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dodge Centre
1867–1893
Dodge Center
1893–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Heritage EstatesValley View Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Wasioja Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAshland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Dodge Center’s history

What year was Dodge Center founded?

The Dodge Center post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Dodge Center rank for history?

Dodge Center is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #143 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 Dodge Center?

18% of Dodge Center’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (13), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.