History · Lino Lakes

Lino Lakes was first counted by the census in 1860

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #252 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

Most of Lino Lakes was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1860.

1860first census

0on the National Register

1%homes built before 1940

3famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Photo: Gabriel Vanslette · CC BY 3.0

Quick answers

How Lino Lakes began

When was Lino Lakes founded?

1860

Lino Lakes first appears in the census in 1860. Another post office, Lino (1894), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 351 in 18602020 census: 21,399166 years

How historic is Lino Lakes?

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Lino Lakes’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lino Lakes is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #252 of 273 in Minnesota. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lino Lakes’ overall grade.

Founding era1860, from the first census: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19401.2% of homes (±0.7) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%D National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MN town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 15%

NewerOlder

Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 8%

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 Lino Lakes’ 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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: the first census (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 Lino Lakes’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lino Lakes are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1900 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 19025 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1993. Watch Lino Lakes change.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lino Lakes’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lino Lakes’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Lino Lakes, census by census

Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lino Lakes’ Wikipedia page.

On the map

Lino Lakes on the map, 1902 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lino Lakes. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1902White Bear sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lino Lakes.

The story

How Lino Lakes came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lino Lakes.

Read it all →

When European settlers arrived, Native Americans already lived in and around the cluster of lakes that are now called Baldwin, Rice, Reshanau, Marshan, George Watch, Centerville, Peltier, and Rondeau. The Dakota people found this to be a land of plenty, with abundant wild rice and small game. Several Native American burial grounds are in the area. European settlers began coming to the area from both Canada and the eastern states around 1850. Those who settled on the lake's west side had names like Ramsden, Speiser, and Wenzel. The east side was settled by families including the Cardinals, LaMottes, Houles and Dupres. Many of their descendants still live in the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lino Lakes, 1894 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1894Post officeThe Lino post office opens
20th century
1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1904Post officeThe Lino post office closes
1992Born hereChris Anderson is born here
1999Born hereGabbie Hughes is born here
21st century
2004Born hereGreta Myers is born here
2020CensusPopulation peaks at 21,399

By decade

Lino Lakes, decade by decade

Today6 recent

2013Shell

2013Rice Creek Park

2013Nature Center

2013Lino Lakes, MN

2013Lino Lakes, MN - panoramio (1)

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Lino Lakes

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Greta MyersAmerican speed skater · b. 2004

Gabbie HughesAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1999

Chris AndersonBaseball player · b. 1992

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Lino, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use

Lino Post Officepost officeVieira Airportairport

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lino Lakes

IncarnationRice Lake MethodistSaint Joseph of the Lakes Catholic ChurchTwitchell

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

HugoIts storyC⁻Columbus1 historic placeC⁺Circle PinesIts storyD⁻BlaineIts storyD North Oaks1 historic placeC⁻White Bear Township1 historic placeC⁺

Questions about Lino Lakes’ history

What year was Lino Lakes founded?

The Lino Lakes post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lino Lakes rank for history?

Lino Lakes is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #252 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.

How old are the homes in Lino Lakes?

1% of Lino Lakes’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1993.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (6), 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.

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