Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Fulda

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Fulda

Fulda’s post office opened in 1879, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Depot. Its Register listing is the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Depot. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1985 on, and the census since 1880.

1879first post office
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fulda’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fulda began, and where its name came from

When was Fulda founded?

1879

The Fulda post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1900. Another post office, Bondin (1874), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 150 in 18802020 census: 1,371147 years

How did Fulda get its name?

Fulda was named for Fulda in Hessen, Germany.

How historic is Fulda?

B

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Fulda post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1900. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Fulda’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fulda is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fulda’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.3% of homes (±3.4) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 7.2 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%
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 Fulda’s 7.2 sits above most of its state (70% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±3.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1900.

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 Fulda’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Fulda’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fulda’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewFulda MN Water Tower: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Fulda came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fulda.

Read it all →

The city of Fulda was founded in 1881 along the Milwaukee Road primarily by German settlers, though also by Scandinavians and Irish. It was named for Fulda in Hessen, Germany. Fulda is still predominantly an agricultural community.

Although the rail line was discontinued in 1980, the two-story train depot, along with a section of track, has been preserved and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The lower level of the depot is currently used as an antiques museum and store. The other building in the city on the National Register is the former Citizens State Bank.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fulda, 1874 to 1985

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Bondin post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Bondin post office closes
  4. 1879Post officeThe Fulda post office opens
  5. 1895Born hereHarold Hotelling is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1956Born hereArvid Kramer is born here
  8. 1985On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fulda, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Fulda MN Water TowerDate?Fulda MN Water Tower
Today9 recent
West side of N St. Paul Avenue at NW Third Street2025West side of N St. Paul Avenue at NW Third StreetReusse building and Fulda Co-op Creamery building2025Reusse building and Fulda Co-op Creamery buildingFulda Memorial Library on east side of N St. Paul Avenue2025Fulda Memorial Library on east side of N St. Paul Ave…First National Bank building, east side of N St. Paul Avenue2025First National Bank building, east side of N St. Paul…City Hall & Fire Hall2025City Hall & Fire HallCannon, 3-Inch Ordnance Rifle, Fulda, Minnesota-022025Cannon, 3-Inch Ordnance Rifle, Fulda, Minnesota-02Cannon, 3-Inch Ordnance Rifle, Fulda, Minnesota-012025Cannon, 3-Inch Ordnance Rifle, Fulda, Minnesota-01Fulda raider marching band 2006 woodduck days2006Fulda raider marching band 2006 woodduck daysFulda mn watertower2005Fulda mn watertower
On the map

Fulda on the map in 1985

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fulda.

Fulda on the 1985 USGS map1985Worthington sheet · 1:100,000

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Fulda MN Water Tower
Retake this viewFulda MN Water Tower

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fulda’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Fulda

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Depot
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Depot
Buildings
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific DepotBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Fulda, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400188019001920194019601980200020201,371

Grew from 150 people in 1880 to 1,371 in 2020, 9 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Fulda

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

See all →
H
Harold HotellingAmerican statistician and econometrician · b. 1895
A
Arvid KramerAmerican basketball player · b. 1956
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Fulda’s post office has been open since 1879. Another post office, Bondin, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bondin
1874–1879
Fulda
1879–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Fuldalocale

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

Questions about Fulda’s history

What year was Fulda founded?

The Fulda post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1900.

How does Fulda rank for history?

Fulda is more historic than 57% 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.

What is on the National Register in Fulda?

One place: the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Depot (listed 1979).

How old are the homes in Fulda?

17% of Fulda’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1963.

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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.