Its Register listings are the Sibley County Courthouse and Sheriff's Residence and Jail and the Gaylord City Park. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Gaylord post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gaylord’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gaylord is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gaylord’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 Gaylord’s 14.5 sits above most of its state (81% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±6.3 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 Gaylord’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A commonly used trail to the Dakota Territory passed through the future site of Gaylord in the 1850s.
Gaylord was platted in 1881, and named for Edward W. Gaylord, a railroad official. A post office has been in operation at Gaylord since 1881.
Gaylord's current mayor is Dawn Kratzke, while its Council President is Chad Muchow. The City Council meets on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Gaylord City Hall (332 Main Avenue, Gaylord).
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Gaylord, census by census
Between 387 and 2,305 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gaylord’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
Gaylord’s post office has been open since 1881.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Gaylord Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Gaylord
Saint John's
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Gaylord’s history
What year was Gaylord founded?
The Gaylord post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Gaylord rank for history?
Gaylord is more historic than 59% 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 Gaylord?
Two places: the Sibley County Courthouse and Sheriff's Residence and Jail (listed 1988) and the Gaylord City Park (2012).
How old are the homes in Gaylord?
13% of Gaylord’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1972.
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), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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