Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Magnolia

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Magnolia

Magnolia’s post office opened in 1886, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1900.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Magnolia began

When was Magnolia founded?

1886

The Magnolia post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 176 in 19002020 census: 196140 years
Founding year: the first Magnolia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Magnolia’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 Magnolia are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 280 in 1960; 196 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Magnolia’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Magnolia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Magnolia’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

Magnolia, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 280

Peaked at 280 in 1960; 196 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

Magnolia, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Magnolia yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Magnolia is a town in Rock County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 222 at the 2010 census. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.78 square miles (2.02 km2), all land.

Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 222 to 196 (-12%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Magnolia, 1886 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Magnolia post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 280
  5. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Magnolia, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Magnolia, Minnesota Water Tower2016Magnolia, Minnesota Water TowerMagnolia MN2016Magnolia MNMagnolia MN water tower2016Magnolia MN water tower
On the map

Magnolia on the map, 1967 to 1985

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

Magnolia on the 1967 USGS mapMagnolia on the 1985 USGS map1967Magnolia 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 Magnolia.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Magnolia’s post office has been open since 1886.

Gone or out of use
Magnolialocale

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

Questions about Magnolia’s history

What year was Magnolia founded?

The Magnolia post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.