The story
Read it all →How Elgin came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Elgin.
Elgin was laid out in 1878 when the railroad was extended to that point. The city was named after Elgin, in Scotland.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Elgin
Elgin’s post office opened in 1857, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1880.
1857first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Elgin began
When was Elgin founded?
1857
The Elgin post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 144 in 18802020 census: 1,115169 years
How historic is Elgin?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Elgin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Elgin’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elgin is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. 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 Elgin’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194018.1% of homes (±5.2) · 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 37%
NewerOlder
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 Elgin’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 (±5.2 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 Elgin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Elgin’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elgin’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Elgin in 1920
Passages that mention Elgin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wabasha County, Minnesota1920 · page 76Read the page →
Read the text
Elgin has had four newspapers, the “Minnesota Union,” the “Elgin Journal,” the “Elgin Free Press,” and the “Elgin Monitor.” In the early days various neighboring papers at Winona, Rochester, Wabasha, Lake City and Plainview carried Elgin news items, contributed by various local people. One of these contributors was Ed. F. Barrett, who afterward became well known in the state^as a professional journalist. The first issue of the “Minnesota Union” was dated July 4, 1879. The editor was F. 0. Harding. There was but little local news in it. Such local items as appeared were largely of an advertising
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wabasha County, Minnesota1920 · page 70Read the page →
Read the text
The Winona & St. Peter railroad was completed through Elgin in Novem¬ ber, 1878. It enters the town in section 33 and extends in a northeastwardly direction through the village of Elgin, to section 13, where* it enters Plainview Township. With the coming of the railroad there was considerable doubt as to where the village was to be located. Hitherto the principal street was Main street, running north and south some three blocks east of where the railroad is now located. The Richardson Brothers, being well located on Main street, and owning property in the vicinity were contented to have Main street remain
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.
Timeline
Elgin, 1857 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1857Post officeThe Elgin post office opens
- 20th century
- 1972
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1984Born hereTom Speer is born here
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Elgin on the map, 1972 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elgin. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1972Millville sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elgin.
People over time
Elgin, census by census
Grew from 144 people in 1880 to 1,115 in 2020, 7 times over.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elgin’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Elgin’s post office has been open since 1857.
Gone or out of use
Elginlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Elgin’s history
What year was Elgin founded?
The Elgin post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Elgin rank for history?
Elgin is more historic than 37% 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.
How old are the homes in Elgin?
18% of Elgin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1982.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.