Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Sherwood Forest Lodge Complex. Most of Lake Shore was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1940.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Shore is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Lake Shore’s 233 sits above most of its state (99% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 25 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% 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 Lake Shore’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Shore. 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 Lake Shore.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lake Shore yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lake Shore is a city in Cass County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,056 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,004 to 1,056 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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 Lake Shore’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 227 people in 1940 to 1,056 in 2020, 4 times over.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Shore’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Lake Shore itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Lake Shore is more historic than 55% 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.
One place: the Sherwood Forest Lodge Complex (listed 1980).
1% of Lake Shore’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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