The story
Read it all →How Morristown came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Morristown.
Morristown was platted in 1855, and named for Walter Morris, a pioneer settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Morristown
Morristown’s post office opened in 1856, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: old-book passages.
1856first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Morristown began
When was Morristown founded?
1856
The Morristown post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 949170 years
How historic is Morristown?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Morristown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Morristown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Morristown is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Morristown’s overall grade.
Founding era1856, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194027.1% of homes (±6.7) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−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 46%
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 Morristown’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 (±6.7 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 Morristown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Morristown’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Morristown’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Morristown in 1882
Passages that mention Morristown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Rice County1882 · page 592Read the page →
Read the text
in Owen county, Indiana, on the 12th of September, 1850, to Miss Elizabeth Morris. Four years later they came west to Faribault, and the following spring to Morristown, where they were pioneers, and staked out a claim in section twenty-six, now known as Nathan's addition of the village of Morristown. On the 30th of April, 1864, he enlisted in Company I, of the Fourth Minnesota
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Rice County, including explorers and pioneers of Minnesota and outline history of the state of Minnesota1882 · page 592Read the page →
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in Owen county, Indiana, on the 12th of September, 1850, to Miss Elizabeth Morris. Four years later they came west to Faribault, and the following spring to Morristown, where they were pioneers, and staked out a claim in section twenty-six, now known as Nathan's addition of the village of Morristown. On the 30th of April, 1864, he enlisted in Company I, of the Fourth Minnesota
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Rice County1882 · page 507Read the page →
Read the text
himself of the opportunity and secured himself a habitation. He, however, only remained a few years, when he pulled up stakes and replanted them in the town of Morristown, where he has since been buried. His family still live in Morristown.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Rice County, including explorers and pioneers of Minnesota and outline history of the state of Minnesota1882 · page 278Read the page →
Read the text
April 1st, 1856, Mrs. Sarah Morris, mother of Walter Morris, one of the first proprietors of the town of Faribault, and widow of Jonathan Morris, one of the first settlers of Morristown, filed and recorded the plat of Morristown. These were the first born towns of Rice county, but the times were then prolific in the birth of towns and cities, and the eye of the speculator saw beside every crystal
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Morristown, decade by decade
2026
2026
2026
2026
2026
2026Questions about Morristown’s history
What year was Morristown founded?
The Morristown post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Morristown rank for history?
Morristown is more historic than 46% 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 Morristown?
27% of Morristown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1960.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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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 (6), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.