The Montevideo post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Chippewa City (1868), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 862 in 18802020 census: 5,398156 years
How historic is Montevideo?
B+
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Montevideo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Montevideo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montevideo is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #42 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Montevideo’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 Montevideo’s 7.5 sits above most of its state (71% 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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 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 Montevideo’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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Montevideo, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Montevideo yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Montevideo ( MON-tə-VID-ee-oh) is a city in and the county seat of Chippewa County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,398 at the 2020 census. The area around Montevideo was populated by Native Americans and fur traders during the first half of the 19th century. After the Dakota War of 1862, the US government opened the area to homesteaders. Railroads were built, and settlers followed, including Civil War veterans, Norwegians, Germans, Swedes, Dutch, and Irish. Montevideo was incorporated in 1879.
Its first post office opened in 1870. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 5,383 in 2010, 5,398 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Montevideo, 1868 to 1965
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 Montevideo post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Montevideo rank for history?
Montevideo is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Montevideo?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Charles H. Budd House (listed 1977, the first).
How old are the homes in Montevideo?
29% of Montevideo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1958.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1901
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1910
