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BHistory
History · Granite Falls

Granite Falls’ post office opened in 1870, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #80 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Andrew John Volstead House, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1965 on, and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
2on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Granite Falls’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Granite Falls began

When was Granite Falls founded?

1870

The Granite Falls post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Paimers Creek (1868) and East Granite Falls (1880), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 578 in 18802020 census: 2,737156 years

How historic is Granite Falls?

B

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Granite Falls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Granite Falls’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Granite Falls is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #80 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Granite Falls’ overall grade.
Founding era1870, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.9% of homes (±5.1) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register2 listings, 7.4 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 59%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 71%

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 Granite Falls’ 7.4 sits above most of its state (71% 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 B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 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 Granite Falls’ past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Granite Falls, and 1 old place names are still on the map.A National Historic Landmark2 places on the National Register, including Andrew John Volstead House, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Granite Falls’s post office has been open since 1870. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Paimers Creek
1868–1870
Granite Falls
1870–today
East Granite Falls
1880–1905
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Valley Courts
Gone or out of use
East Granite Falls Post Officepost officeEast Granite Falls Post Officepost office

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

On the National Register

2 historic places in Granite Falls

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmark
1
Andrew John Volstead House
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Andrew John Volstead House
Julian A. Weaver HouseAndrew John Volstead House, built 1878★
Buildings★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
★ Landmark
Andrew John Volstead HouseGreek Revival · Built 1878
Julian A. Weaver HouseBuilding

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

The story

How Granite Falls came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Granite Falls.

Read it all →

In 1870 a post office began operating at Granite Falls. The town was platted in 1872 and named for deposits of granite rock in the area. In 1874 the county seat was moved to Granite Falls and a small one courtroom courthouse was erected. In 1876 the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation was formed and a church was built. Granite Falls was incorporated as a city in 1879 with East Granite Falls joining in 1889. The existing county courthouse was erected in 1880. In 1888 the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad built the town train station that still stands. The rail line remains active as a short line operated by the Twin Cities and Western Railroad (TC&W).

Chapters2000 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Granite Falls, 1868 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Paimers Creek post office opens
  3. 1870Post officeThe Paimers Creek post office closes
  4. 1870Post officeThe Granite Falls post office opens
  5. 1878BuiltAndrew John Volstead House is built
  6. 1880Post officeThe East Granite Falls post office opens
  7. 1883Born hereArba J. Powers is born here
  8. 1887Born hereArchibald Bush is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1905Post officeThe East Granite Falls post office closes
  11. 1910In the archiveMain St
  12. 1920In the archiveWaite Mill and Timber Company's two-truck Climax locomotive no. 2, Granite Falls, ca. 1920
  13. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1976LandmarkAndrew John Volstead House named a National Historic Landmark
  15. 1997In the archiveFEMA - 1096 - Photograph by Ken Gardner taken on 04-08-1997 in Minnesota
By decade

Granite Falls, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s3 items
Main St1910Main StBirds eye view1910Birds eye viewWaite Mill and Timber Company's two-truck Climax locomotive no. 2, Granite Falls, ca. 1920c. 1920Waite Mill and Timber Company's two-truck Climax loco…
1930s–1980snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1990s1 item
FEMA - 1096 - Photograph by Ken Gardner taken on 04-08-1997 in Minnesota1997FEMA - 1096 - Photograph by Ken Gardner taken on 04-0…
Date unknown1 to date
Andrew John Volstead House, 163 Ninth AvenueDate?Andrew John Volstead House, 163 Ninth Avenue
Today11 recent
Swensson Farm Museum--side and back2017Swensson Farm Museum--side and backGranite Falls, Minnesota - Water Tower2017Granite Falls, Minnesota - Water TowerGranite Falls Municipal Hydroelectric Dam - Minnesota2017Granite Falls Municipal Hydroelectric Dam - MinnesotaDowntown Granite Falls, Minnesota - Prentice Street2017Downtown Granite Falls, Minnesota - Prentice StreetMinnesota River at sunset near2016Minnesota River at sunset nearYellow Medicine County Museum2014Yellow Medicine County MuseumJulian A. Weaver House2014Julian A. Weaver HouseBridge 120002014Bridge 12000Yellow Medicine County Courthouse2007Yellow Medicine County CourthouseGranite Falls Minnesota2007Granite Falls MinnesotaMNMap-doton-Granite Falls2005MNMap-doton-Granite Falls
On the map

Granite Falls on the map, 1965 to 1986

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Granite Falls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Granite Falls on the 1965 USGS mapGranite Falls on the 1986 USGS map1965Granite Falls sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Main St
Retake this viewMain St, 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Granite Falls, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,451

Between 578 and 3,451 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Granite Falls

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

See all →
A
Archibald BushAmerican businessman · b. 1887
A
Arba J. PowersAmerican politician – Minnesota -- "A.J." House… · b. 1883
C
Curt StrasheimAmerican football coach
Help out

Start Granite Falls’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 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 viewMain St: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Granite Falls Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMinnesota Falls TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStony Run TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Granite Falls’ history

What year was Granite Falls founded?

The Granite Falls post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Granite Falls rank for history?

Granite Falls is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #80 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.

What is on the National Register in Granite Falls?

Two places: the Andrew John Volstead House (listed 1974) and the Julian A. Weaver House (1986).

How old are the homes in Granite Falls?

17% of Granite Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1971.

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 (13), the Library of Congress (3), 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.