Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1930.
Hayward dates its founding to 1855 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1930.
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 Hayward’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hayward.
Hayward was named after George S. Hayward, a "prominent citizen of the early days". Hayward was settled around 1855 and was formally incorporated in 1925.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Hayward, cut from the printed page as they were published.
while Mr. Bartlett was in the East procuring machinery, E. P. Skinner laid out a town under the caption of Shell Eock, a short distance north of Mr. B.'s proposed site, in the town of Hayward. This promised to be quite a formidable rival to the present village, as a Post-office and store were established there; but on Mr. Bartlett's return negotiations were entered into which were finally
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Oakland. In 1862, his father enlisted in Company M, of the First Minnesota Mounted Bangers, and after receiving his discharge moved his family to the town of Hayward, where they still reside. In 1867, Hans came to Albert Lea and clerked iu a general mercantile store until 1877, when he, in company with his brother, T. V. Knatvold, started in the hardware biisiness, and they carry the
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hayward. 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 Hayward.
Between 158 and 294 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hayward’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Hayward itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1855, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hayward’s post office opened in 1864, and the census of 1930 counted 158 people here.
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 the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, 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.
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