Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #220 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Grant was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 2000.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Grant is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #220 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Grant’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Grant’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Grant.
The city was named for President Ulysses S. Grant. From time to time, western villages in Grant Township separated as incorporated cities. Grant Township incorporated itself as the City of Grant in November 1996.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Grant, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Herman is located, was one of the first settled localities in the district and for many years after the organization of the county, Herman continued to be the chief railroad point and principal place of business in the three counties of Grant, Stevens and Traverse. The village of Herman was laid out on land belonging to the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company. About this time S. S. Frogner and Peter Hanson opened up general merchandizing stores there and did a prosperous business with the settlers and half-breed aborigines. The village plat was filed with the register of deeds on Septem-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1880, the village of Elbow Lake, where the seat of government for Grant county had been estalilished, was but a small cluster of houses, without a railroad and of no special commercial importance; while Herman was an incorporated village of several hundred population, with railwav communications and numerous business hoiises. There is no doubt but Llerman would have been the countv seat of Grant countv but for one
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grant. 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 Grant.
Between 3,966 and 4,096 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Grant’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Grant itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Grant is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #220 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.
6% of Grant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
2012
