Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1890.
Eden Valley dates its founding to 1886 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eden Valley is more historic than 48% 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 Eden Valley’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: Wikipedia (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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Eden Valley.
Eden Valley was platted in 1886. A post office has been in operation at Eden Valley since 1887.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Eden Valley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Eden Valley, located on the Minneapolis & Pacific Railroad, on the west half of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 2 and the east half of the northeast quarter of tiie northeast quarter of section 3, was laid out by Silas Cossairt, F. B. Smith and the railroad company, in the fall of 1886, P.M. Dalil being
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and his colts rated high. Mr. Burns tintiUy sold the animal April 1, 1886. On the 15th of September, 1886, E. F. Burns bought the first lot that was sold in Eden Valley, erected a fine building, and October ItUh, established a meat market ami farm produce exchange, and supplied the railroad contractors with provisions. He also bought wheat and dealt
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.
In the archiveMain Street
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eden Valley. 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 Eden Valley.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Eden Valley’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 327 and 1,042 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eden Valley’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Another post office, Eden Lake, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1886, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Eden Valley’s post office opened in 1872, and the census of 1890 counted 327 people here.
Eden Valley is more historic than 48% 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.
30% of Eden Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 the Library of Congress (6), 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 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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