Founding year: the first Maple Plain post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1912.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Maple Plain’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Maple Plain is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Maple Plain’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 Maple Plain’s 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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1912.
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 Maple Plain’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Maple Plain is named for the many sugar maples in its forests. Settlement of the area began in 1854 and revolved around Lake Independence to its north, and its outflow Pioneer Creek. In 1868 and 1869, the St. Paul, Pacific and Manitoba Railroad was built through Maple Plain. By 1871, Maple Plain had a post office. The city was incorporated as a village in 1912. Village water came to the town in 1939, sewer circa 1950, and blacktop in 1961.
was plentiful. The lake derived its name from a party of excursionists, who celebrated the Fourth of July on its banks. The village of Maple Plain lies about a mile away, through which runs the western line of the Great Northern Railway.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Hennepin county and the city of Minneapolis, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota1881 · page 265Read the page →
Read the text
summer, by II. C. and W. Biuld. and later, another adjoining the Urst on tlie west. l)y William H. Marsh. This second plat is now the village of Maple Plain, and tlie hnsiness part of the town. It lies in sei'tion 24. wldle the original plat was in section 25. Here are the hotels, stores. l)laclismitli shops, mills, etc.
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Moody had West Maple Plain laid out, the plat being certified to by B. F. Christlieb, as surveyor. On its be¬ coming a railroad station, Edward Jenks, of Rockford, opened a boarding house at Maple Plain. These enteri:)rises, begati 1868-9, were superseded and followed by others. G. W. Smith
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History of Hennepin county and the city of Minneapolis, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota1881 · page 263Read the page →
Read the text
Nearly a dozen lakes dot the surface, and two streams flow thrt)ugh it. Lake Independence is the largest of the lakes, and is situated a mile from the little village of Maple Plain. It is a beautiful sheet of water, about two miles in length, and one in width, with good tishing. The scenery around the lake is very charming, noticeable features of which are. Cedar Point, at the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Maple Plain, 1856 to 1989
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Maple Plain post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1912.
How does Maple Plain rank for history?
Maple Plain is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. 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 Maple Plain?
13% of Maple Plain’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1974.
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, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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