Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #28 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1890.
Glenwood dates its founding to 1866 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glenwood is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #28 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds 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 Glenwood’s 22.8 sits above most of its state (85% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Glenwood’s history is told.
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.
1895Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Glenwood.
Glenwood was platted in 1866, and named for the glen and woods near the original town site. A post office called Glenwood has been in operation since 1867. The city was incorporated in 1912.
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.
Born hereAlbert Sanders is born hereBuiltGlenwood Public Library is built
In the archiveLakeside Pavilion
In the archiveGlenwood, Minn
Born hereInez Trueman is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2021Anhydrous Ammonia Train Cars - Glenwood - Minnesota
2019CP 41B-15, Glenwood, Minn
2019CP 41B-14, Glenwood, Minn
2017Glenwood, Minnesota Public Safety and Municipal Build…
2014Pope County State Bank
2014Glenwood MN sign
2014Fremad Association Building
20132013-0408-GlenwoodPublicLibrary
20132013-0408-FremadAssocBuilding
2008Grove Lake Memorial Chapel
2005MNMap-doton-GlenwoodEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Glenwood. 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 Glenwood.
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 Glenwood’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 627 and 2,666 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Glenwood’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1866, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Glenwood’s post office opened in 1867, and the census of 1890 counted 627 people here.
Glenwood is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #28 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.
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Fremad Association Building (listed 1982, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.
29% of Glenwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1958.
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 (14), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (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 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.
1913
Date?