Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #84 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Mille Lacs County Courthouse and the Milaca Municipal Hall. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1890.
The Milaca post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milaca is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #84 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold 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 Milaca’s 6.6 sits above most of its state (68% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Milaca.
A post office has been in operation at Milaca since 1883. The name Milaca is derived from shortening and alteration of Mille Lacs Lake.
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 archiveSwedish Baptist Church, Milaca, Minnesota - DPLA - 541c194ac40b205b67d46c9ffdb2c992
Born hereBelle Bennett is born here
In the archiveBusinessDistrictNickSavas
In the archiveCongregational Church
Born hereLarry Brink is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Milaca. 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 Milaca.
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 Milaca’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 404 people in 1890 to 3,021 in 2020, 7 times over.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Milaca’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Milaca post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Milaca is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #84 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.
Two places: the Mille Lacs County Courthouse (listed 1977) and the Milaca Municipal Hall (1985).
17% of Milaca’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
1912
1912
