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C−History
History · Lonsdale

Lonsdale’s post office opened in 1902, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #207 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

Most of Lonsdale was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Its Register listing is the Lonsdale Public School. Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1910.

1902first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lonsdale began

When was Lonsdale founded?

1902

The Lonsdale post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1903.

First census: 271 in 19102020 census: 4,686124 years

How historic is Lonsdale?

C−

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lonsdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1903.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lonsdale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lonsdale is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #207 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lonsdale’s overall grade.
Founding era1902, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19404.5% of homes (±4.3) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 2.0 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 24%

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 Lonsdale’s 2.0 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1903 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Lonsdale’s 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 Lonsdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lonsdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lonsdale’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
The story

How Lonsdale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lonsdale.

Read it all →

Prior to the American Civil War, a number of families of Czech descent had begun migrating to south central Minnesota from Bohemia. In 1878, a small settlement of Norwegian farmers built a Lutheran church slightly to the southeast of present day Lonsdale. They called the area Trondhjem, after the name of the city in Norway from which they had emigrated. In 1891, a proposed new railroad from Mankato to Farmington was reported in the New Prague Times. However, construction of this railroad was never initiated due to an economic downturn.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Lonsdale, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Feed Mill at2015Feed Mill atLonsdale Public School2012Lonsdale Public SchoolLonsdale, Minnesota 52010Lonsdale, Minnesota 5Lonsdale Feed Mill, Lonsdale, MN-022006Lonsdale Feed Mill, Lonsdale, MN-02Lonsdale Feed Mill, Lonsdale, MN-012006Lonsdale Feed Mill, Lonsdale, MN-01
On the map

Lonsdale on the map, 1960 to 1985

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

Lonsdale on the 1960 USGS mapLonsdale on the 1985 USGS map1960Lonsdale sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Lonsdale

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Lonsdale Public School
Lonsdale Public School
Buildings
Lonsdale Public SchoolBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Lonsdale, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0001920194019601980200020204,686

Grew from 271 people in 1910 to 4,686 in 2020, more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wheatland Township2 historic placesA−Webster Township1 historic placeB

Questions about Lonsdale’s history

What year was Lonsdale founded?

The Lonsdale post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1903.

How does Lonsdale rank for history?

Lonsdale is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #207 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 Lonsdale?

One place: the Lonsdale Public School (listed 1979).

How old are the homes in Lonsdale?

5% of Lonsdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 2002.

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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.