Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #58 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
Morris dates its founding to 1869 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Morris is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #58 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 Morris’ 29.3 sits above most of its state (89% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Morris’s history is told.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Morris.
Morris was platted in 1869 and named for Charles F. Morris, a railroad engineer. A post office has been in operation at Morris since 1871, when Morris township was organized. It was incorporated as a village in 1878 and as a city in 1902.
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.
BuiltLewis H. Stanton House is builtBuiltMorris Industrial School for Indians Dormitory is builtBuiltMorris Carnegie Library is built
In the archiveStevens County Court House, Morris, Minn
In the archiveJ. R. Putnam barn, Morris, Minnesota - DPLA - 14b71fd31ea105b87fc1ef844b98eac3
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMona Lyn Reese is born here
Born hereJeff Howe is born here
Born hereAaron Schock is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Morris. 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 Morris.
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 Morris’ page.
Retake this view · +15Between 743 and 5,613 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Morris’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Morris’s post office has been open since 1871.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1869, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Morris’ post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 743 people here.
Morris is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #58 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.
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Lewis H. Stanton House (listed 1982, the first), 1 historic district, the West Central School of Agriculture and Experiment Station Historic District, with 11 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 15 historic buildings in all.
14% of Morris’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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 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.
c. 1910
