The story
Read it all →How New York Mills came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of New York Mills.
New York Mills was platted in 1883. The city was originally built up chiefly by Finns.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · New York Mills
New York Mills’ post office opened in 1874, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1890.
1874first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How New York Mills began
When was New York Mills founded?
1874
The New York Mills post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1883.
First census: 260 in 18902020 census: 1,294152 years
How historic is New York Mills?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first New York Mills post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1883.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New York Mills’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New York Mills is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New York Mills’ overall grade.
Founding era1874, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.1% of homes (±4.7) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 36%
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 New York Mills’ 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 (±4.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1883 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 New York Mills’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start New York Mills’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New York Mills’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
New York Mills, building by building, 1904–1916
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.
1904Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about New York Mills in 1916
Passages that mention New York Mills, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota1916 · page 278Read the page →
Read the text
ceed, Andrew Andersen proceeded to clear his newly-acquired land and for a home he built a log cabin, one which is in use to tin's day. During the year 1898 Mr. Andersen bought eighty acres of land located in the village of New York Mills, to which place he moved and became the agent for the Monarch Elevator Company, with which company he was employed until they became a part of the New York Mills Farmers Elevator Company, when he was continued athe agent of the new proprietors.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota1916 · page 697Read the page →
Read the text
few years the railroad, which was being put through that section of the county, failed to take account of Ottertail village as a possible station, and Mr. Frazee, on account of better business possibilities, was obliged to move his mill to Frazee's mills (now New York Mills), stationed on the Northern Pacific railroad. From the Frazee mill was furnished the first bridge material used by Northern Pacific railroad in Minnesota.
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
New York Mills, 1874 to 1986
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1874Post officeThe New York Mills post office opens
- 20th century
- 1976
Born herePeter Hayes is born here - 1986
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
New York Mills, decade by decade
2019
2017
2013
2013
2005On the map
New York Mills on the map in 1986
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New York Mills.
1986Detroit Lakes sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New York Mills.
People over time
New York Mills, census by census
Grew from 260 people in 1890 to 1,294 in 2020, 4 times over.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New York Mills’ Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
New York Mills’s post office has been open since 1874.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Mills Manor Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside New York Mills
Old Greenwood
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about New York Mills’ history
What year was New York Mills founded?
The New York Mills post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1883.
How does New York Mills rank for history?
New York Mills is more historic than 36% 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 New York Mills?
17% of New York Mills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1977.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
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 (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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.