The story
Read it all →How Grand Meadow came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Grand Meadow.
Grand Meadow was platted in 1870, and named for the prairies near the original town site.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
How Grand Meadow began
When was Grand Meadow founded?
1859
The Grand Meadow post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gainesville (1858), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 374 in 18802020 census: 1,127167 years
How historic is Grand Meadow?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Grand Meadow post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Grand Meadow’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Grand Meadow is more historic than 74% 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 Grand Meadow’s overall grade.
Founding era1859, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194028.5% of homes (±5.9) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register2 listings, 19.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
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 Grand Meadow’s 19.8 sits above most of its state (84% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 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 Grand Meadow’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Grand Meadow’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grand Meadow’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Grand Meadow in 1911
Passages that mention Grand Meadow, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Mower County, Minnesota1911 · page 372Read the page →
Read the text
Grand Meadow Catholic Church. The Catholic church was erected in 1879 under the care of Father Hurley, of Austin. The first religious services for Catholics in Grand Meadow were held by Father Pendegast in 1858, in section 13, at the house of Arthur McNally, in section 13. Fathers McDermott and Keller served in the early days. The present pastor is Rev. Henry Germinder, of Spring Valley. Plans are now under way for the erection of a fine new church. The building committee consists of John Ra^
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Mower County, Minnesota1911 · page 359Read the page →
Read the text
The first settlement in the town of Grand Meadow was made by Erlund Olson, in the autumn of 1854. Olson was a native of Norway. He came here from Dane county, Wisconsin, and settled on the northeast quarter of section 12. The log house built by him here was the first in the town. After remaining here for some years. Olson sold his place and removed to the town of Racine.
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
Grand Meadow, 1858 to 1965
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Grand Meadow, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2023
2005On the map
Grand Meadow on the map, 1965 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grand Meadow. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1965Grand Meadow sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Grand Meadow.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Grand Meadow
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Exchange State Bank
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Carpenter Gothic1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Grand Meadow, census by census
Between 373 and 1,139 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Grand Meadow’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Grand Meadow’s post office has been open since 1859. Another post office, Gainesville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Gainesville
Grand Meadow
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Meadow Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Grand Meadowlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Grand Meadow’s history
What year was Grand Meadow founded?
The Grand Meadow post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Grand Meadow rank for history?
Grand Meadow is more historic than 74% 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 Grand Meadow?
Two places: the Exchange State Bank (listed 1975) and the Booth Post No. 130-Grand Army of the Republic Hall (1986).
How old are the homes in Grand Meadow?
29% of Grand Meadow’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1974.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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), 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.