The Frazee post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Frazee City (1874), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 97 in 18802020 census: 1,335134 years
How historic is Frazee?
B−
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Frazee post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Frazee’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Frazee 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.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Frazee’s overall grade.
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 Frazee’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 (±7.2 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 Frazee’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community was originally named Detroit and later Third Crossing before adopting the name Frazee. With Becker County not formally organized until 1871, it was the earliest settlement in the area. The city was incorporated on January 6, 1891. It was named after Randolph Lafayette Frazee, owner of a sawmill.
Frazee was the birthplace of Kieth Engen, a noted operatic bass.
Passages that mention Frazee, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A pioneer history of Becker County, Minnesota, including a brief account of its natural history ... and a history of the early settlement of the county1907 · page 312Read the page →
Read the text
went west with his brother as far as the Rocky Mountains, working at different places, but finally came back as far as Hobart, as the station was then called, and became the first ticket agent at that place, and when the depot building was moved over to Frazee in 1874, he came with it and so became the first agent at Frazee, which position he occupied until the time of his death. He also held the ofiice of town clerk during all his residence at Frazee.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A pioneer history of Becker County, Minnesota, including a brief account of its natural history ... and a history of the early settlement of the county1907 · page 308Read the page →
Read the text
It should ever be born in mind, however, that much of the real estate in Frazee is bounded, and the descriptions start from the center of the main line of the railroad, and that the original main line is the third track north from the passenger depot since the double track was laid, or the track that runs next to the freight depot, being the most northerly of the three tracks between the two depots.
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
Frazee, 1874 to 1928
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Frazee post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Frazee rank for history?
Frazee 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.
How old are the homes in Frazee?
31% of Frazee’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (4), 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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