More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #233 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Mounds View was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Mounds View post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1958.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mounds View’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mounds View is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #233 of 273 in Minnesota. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mounds View’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 Mounds View’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 D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1958.
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 Mounds View’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The city of Mounds View is in the former Mounds View Township, which was organized in 1858. In 1958, 100 years after Minnesota became a state, the village of Mounds View was incorporated. Post-World War II growth was fueled by the proximity of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills on the city's eastern border.
While the city's residential areas started to develop north and south of County Road 10 after World War II, businesses emerged along the corridor starting in the 1950s. Former notable businesses along the corridor include the 1980s nightclub Muldoon's Off 10 and Totino's restaurant. Current notable businesses in Mounds View include Sysco Distributing and Mermaid Entertainment & Event.
Passages that mention Mounds View, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Ramsey County and the city of St. Paul, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota1881 · page 278Read the page →
Read the text
the board of county commissioners in 1869, and consists of sections 3, 4 and 6, in Rose township, and sections 27, 28, 32, 33 and 34, in the town of Mounds View. The south-west quarter of section 3, Rose township, has since been taken from this district and attached to district number 24. The first school taught in district number 20, was in the summer of 1870, by Mary J. Ryan, occupying
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ramsey County and the city of St. Paul, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota1881 · page 280Read the page →
Read the text
the town of Centerville, Anoka county, and the town of Oueka, Washington county; east by the town of Grant, Washington county; south by New Canada; west by Mounds View. Its surface is quite rolling but not bluffy, as are many townships with large lakes witliin their borders.
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.
Timeline
Mounds View, 1858 to 1992
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Mounds View post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1958.
How does Mounds View rank for history?
Mounds View is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #233 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.
How old are the homes in Mounds View?
3% of Mounds View’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1976.
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.
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