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C+History
History · Menahga

Menahga’s post office opened in 1891, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1891first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Menahga began, and where its name came from

When was Menahga founded?

1891

The Menahga post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,340135 years

How did Menahga get its name?

Menahga was platted in 1891 and named for the Ojibwe word miinikaa meaning "there are blueberries".

How historic is Menahga?

C+

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Menahga post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Menahga’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Menahga is more historic than 37% 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 Menahga’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194018.2% of homes (±7.7) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MN town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 37%
NewerOlder

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 Menahga’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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points). 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 Menahga’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 Menahga are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Menahga’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Menahga’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 Menahga came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Menahga.

Read it all →

Menahga was platted in 1891 and named for the Ojibwe word miinikaa meaning "there are [many] blueberries". A post office has been in operation at Menahga since 1891.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Menahga, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Water tower, Menahga, Minnesota-022024Water tower, Menahga, Minnesota-02Water tower, Menahga, Minnesota-012024Water tower, Menahga, Minnesota-01Post Office2024Post OfficeCity Hall2024City HallMenagha St. Urho2020Menagha St. Urho

Questions about Menahga’s history

What year was Menahga founded?

The Menahga post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Menahga rank for history?

Menahga is more historic than 37% 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 Menahga?

18% of Menahga’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1974.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.