Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #209 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Eagle Lake was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1910.
The Eagle Lake post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Spirer (1870), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Eagle Lake was named after nearby Eagle Lake.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eagle Lake is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #209 of 273 in Minnesota. Its age 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 Eagle Lake’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: 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 →
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 Eagle Lake’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Eagle Lake.
A post office was established in the area in 1870 and the village was named Spier.The townsite was platted in 1872. It was not until 1873 the name changed to Eagle Lake. It was named after nearby Eagle Lake. A post office has been in operation in Eagle Lake since 1873.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Eagle Lake, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the suggestion of Geo. A. Beiries after his home in Germany, and Freeman A. Cate was appointed postmaster. In Dec. 1873, the name was changed to Eagle Lake and Henry Bossard became postmaster. He had a small store near Eagle Lake station.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The money order system was inaugurated in June, 1890, at the St. Clair postoffice, and in January, 1891, at Eagle Lake, affording to those communities a much needed convenience. Feb. 3, 1891, a post office was established at Eapic!a.n Mills, with W. D. Hall Jr., of the Lake Crystal Mirror as postmaster. July 1, of the same year another postoffice called "Hawkins"
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eagle Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Eagle Lake.
Grew from 231 people in 1910 to 3,278 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eagle Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Eagle Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Eagle Lake’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Spirer, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Eagle Lake post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Eagle Lake is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #209 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.
5% of Eagle Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1997.
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 Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikipedia, 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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