Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 8 buildings. Below: maps from 1967 on.
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 Murray Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Murray Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Murray Township is a township in Murray County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 204 at the 2000 census. It contains part of the census-designated place of The Lakes.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 177 to 163 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Murray Township. 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 Murray Township.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Murray Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Two places: the Lake Shetak State Park WPA/Rustic Style Group Camp (listed 1992) and the Lake Shetek State Park WPA/Rustic Style Historic District (1992).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
