Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #27 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1880.
The Luverne post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Luverne is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #27 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 Luverne’s 20.3 sits above most of its state (84% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Luverne’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Luverne.
A post office called Luverne has been in operation since 1868. Luverne was platted in 1870 and named for Luverne Hawes, the daughter of a settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1883 bird's eye view of Luverne. County seat of Rock County, Minnesota
Born hereJames Russell Wiggins is born hereBuiltLuverne Carnegie Library is built
In the archiveLuverne Hospital ("American medical directory", 1906 advert)BuiltPalace Theater is builtBuiltR. B. Hinkly House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archivePalace Theater, Main Street
Born hereShantel VanSanten is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Luverne. 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 Luverne.
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 Luverne’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 679 people in 1880 to 4,946 in 2020, 7 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Luverne’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Luverne’s post office has been open since 1868.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Luverne post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Luverne is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #27 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.
9 listings: 9 buildings, among them the R. B. Hinkly House (listed 1975, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.
28% of Luverne’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
