Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #72 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Kanabec County Courthouse, the C. E. Williams House and the Coin School. Its Register listings are the Kanabec County Courthouse, the C. E. Williams House and the Coin School. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1900.
Mora dates its founding to 1882 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mora is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #72 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 Mora’s 10.7 sits above most of its state (77% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mora’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Mora.
Mora was platted in 1882 by Myron Kent. The city was named after Mora, Sweden, when Israel Israelson suggested his hometown's name in Dalarna County, Sweden. The post office opened on February 27, 1883. Kent was Mora's first postmaster.
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 archiveHigh School
Born hereGladys Nordenstrom is born here
Born hereDan Severson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mora. 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 Mora.
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 Mora’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 785 people in 1900 to 3,665 in 2020, 4 times over.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mora’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1882, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mora’s post office opened in 1883, and the census of 1900 counted 785 people here.
Mora is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #72 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.
Three places: the Kanabec County Courthouse (listed 1977), the C. E. Williams House (1980) and the Coin School (2025).
15% of Mora’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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