Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #106 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Its Register listings are the McLeod County Courthouse and the Glencoe Grade and High School. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.
Glencoe dates its founding to 1855 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glencoe is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #106 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls 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 Glencoe’s 3.5 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1893Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Glencoe’s post office has been open since 1856.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Glencoe.
Glencoe was laid out in 1855 and named after Glen Coe in Scotland. A post office has been in operation at Glencoe since 1856. Glencoe was incorporated as a city in 1909.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveGlencoe, Minnesota. Farmers who have registered under Selective Service act in the fireho…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereGwen Walz is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Farmers who have registered under…
1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Farmer registering for Selective …
1942Untitled photo, possibly related to: Glencoe, Minneso…
1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration fo…
1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration fo…
1942Glencoe, Minnesota. Selective Service registration fo…
1942Untitled photo, possibly related to: Glencoe, Minneso…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Glencoe. 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 Glencoe.
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 Glencoe’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 1,078 people in 1880 to 5,744 in 2020, 5 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Glencoe’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
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 1855, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Glencoe’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1880 counted 1,078 people here.
Glencoe is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #106 of 273 in Minnesota. 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.
Two places: the McLeod County Courthouse (listed 1984) and the Glencoe Grade and High School (2012).
13% of Glencoe’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (7), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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