Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1880.
The Grove City post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Swede Grove (1866), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
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 Grove City’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Grove City.
In 1870, the St. Paul and Pacific Railway came to Acton Township and built the Acton Station 2 miles (3 km) east of today's Grove City. There was also a post office one mile north called "Swede Grove". The different locations caused confusion, and the people convinced the railroad to move the station to present-day Grove City.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Grove City, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Grove City was incorporated as such, by an act of the State Legislature, passed February 14, 1878. At that time tlie Secretary of State appointed C. J.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Grove City was laid out and platted by the St. Paul & Pacific Eailroad Company, on the northeast quarter of section 3, of this township, in the summer of 1870, the plat of which was filed for record with the county register of deeds, August 26, 1870. One addition has since been added to the original site bv the same corporation, the plat of
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveGrove City Baptist Church, Grove City, Minnesota - DPLA - bc3d3111456b7ecd126da101d199c621
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2025Historic First State Bank building, Grove City, Minne…
2025Grain elevator, Grove City, Minnesota-8
2025FIre station, Grove City, Minnesota-11
2025FIre station, Grove City, Minnesota-10
2025Community center, Grove City, Minnesota-14
2025Businesses along Atlantic Avenue, Grove City, Minneso…
2021Grove City, MN-Atlantic Avenue businesses
2021Grove City Water Tower - Minnesota
201160 Pontiac Ventura
201160 Pontiac Ventura (6409059229) (cropped)
2005MNMap-doton-Grove CityEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grove City. 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 Grove City.
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 Grove City’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 230 and 635 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Grove City’s Wikipedia page.
Grove City’s post office has been open since 1879. Another post office, Swede Grove, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Grove City post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (12), 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.
