Founding year: the first Marshall post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Marshall’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marshall is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #103 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marshall’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 Marshall’s 2.9 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Marshall’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Marshall was platted in 1872 when the railroad was extended to that point. Lake Marshall Township had been established in the area in 1870, and included a post office and several farms. Before that, the site was occasionally used as a campground for groups of Dakota, who hunted and traveled throughout the region. After much discussion, James J. Manton decided on Marshall in honor of Governor William R. Marshall.
Passages that mention Marshall, cut from the printed page as they were published.
An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota1912 · page 258Read the page →
Read the text
During the summer the railroad was built Major Blake bought the land upon which the city of Marshall now stands and in company with others platted a town and founded .Marshall. His home continued in the new village until January, 1891, when he located at Dalton, Georgia. He died at that place May 15, 1903, and was buried in the Marshall
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
An illustrated history of Lyon County, Minnesota1912 · page 147Read the page →
Read the text
While the Congregational church was the first organized in Marshall, the Methodist, officially organized in 1873, is in reality the oldest church society in the city. Its organization was a continuation of the Methodist church of Lynd, which had come into existence several years before and the jurisdiction
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
Marshall, 1870 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Marshall post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Marshall rank for history?
Marshall is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #103 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 Marshall?
4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Masonic Temple Delta Lodge No. 119 (listed 1982, the first), and 2 structures.
How old are the homes in Marshall?
12% of Marshall’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1977.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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