Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #179 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1930.
The Mound post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Phelps Island (1915) and Island Park (1925), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mound is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #179 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Mound’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mound. 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 Mound.
Mound’s post office has been open since 1894. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Mound.
According to Melvin Gimmestad's Historical Backgrounds of Mound, Minnesota, "Mound derived its name from the Indian mounds once found within the present day city limits. They were not built by the Dakota Indians, but were made by prehistoric Indians".
The former municipality of Island Park, which contained Phelps Island, merged with Mound in 1960.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Mound, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The bill passed by both houses embraced, in addition to the territory comprising the present town of Fridley, the town of Mound View, both taken from Ramsey county ; but by skulduggery, presumably by a Ramsey county politician. Mound View was omitted in the enrollment of the bill presented to the Governor (an uncle of mine), who approved it without discovering the emasculation. Of course, a county of so small an area and sparsely populated was unable to maintain an organ-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
north of the village in 1873. Minnetrista postoffice was established in 1861, on section 6, and Norman Shook appointed postmaster. A postoffice was established in 1876 at ;Mound City, and a Mr. Pearl ajipointed postmaster. STORES.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ter. Minnetrista post office was estab¬ lished in 18(51, Norman Shook, post¬ master. In 187(5, the post office of Mound Cit}" was created, and fames Pearl appointed postmaster. The first store was opened at St.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereHenning Linden is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereKevin Sorbo is born here
In the archiveVillage of
In the archiveVillage of
Born hereLiz Schepers is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Mound’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 206 people in 1930 to 9,398 in 2020, more than tenfold.
4 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mound’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 Mound post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Mound is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #179 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.
10% of Mound’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 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 (6), 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 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.
1969
1971
1972
1973
