Lindstrom’s post office opened in 1880, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #117 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Lindstrom was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Its Register listings are the Charles A. Victor House, the Frank A. Larson House and the Gustaf Anderson House. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Lindstrom post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lindstrom’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lindstrom is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #117 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 Lindstrom’s overall grade.
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 Lindstrom’s 6.0 sits above most of its state (66% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 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 Lindstrom’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lindström was settled predominantly by Swedish (and a few Norwegian) immigrants and their families. In 1853, Daniel Lindstrom left Sweden in search of a nice piece of land to settle in the United States. Lindström was platted in 1880. The town of Lindström was incorporated in 1894. Many other Swedish emigrants traveled with Daniel Lindstrom. Joris Per Anderson, half brother to Daniel Lindstrom came in 1850 leading a party from Hassela, Sweden. In the party was Eric Norelius, whose personal journals in part formed the basis of Vilhelm Moberg's novels of the Swedish emigration to the United States, The Emigrants. Moberg's novels have two main characters, Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson. The novels depict the hardships Swedish emigrants endured en route to the United States and their first ten years in their new home country. A bronze statue of the author, holding his bicycle as if ready …
The Lindstrom post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lindstrom rank for history?
Lindstrom is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #117 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 Lindstrom?
Three places: the Charles A. Victor House (listed 1980), the Frank A. Larson House (1980) and the Gustaf Anderson House (1980).
How old are the homes in Lindstrom?
8% of Lindstrom’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
