Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Grika at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1974 on, and the census since 1880.
From Wikipedia’s history of Nicollet Township.
The city of Nicollet was named for Joseph Nicollet, a French explorer. A post office called Nicollet, along with the town of Nicollet, was established in 1858 by William A. Mills. Nicollet was platted on June 30, 1874 by James H. Stewart and Walter L. Brackenridge as a railroad town. Nicollet was incorporated in 1881.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveCreamery, Nicollet, Minnesota - DPLA - 9d8695cac8ce9ba88abc520e4c43aebb
In the archiveBird's-eye-view of Nicollet, Minnesota - DPLA - 8d0f303e1d0e2e298ee2d18a26537163
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
c. 1908Creamery, Nicollet, Minnesota - DPLA - 9d8695cac8ce9b…Postcard
c. 1908Old and New Water Towers, Nicollet, Minnesota - DPLA …Postcardc. 1910Bird's-eye-view of Nicollet, Minnesota - DPLA - 8d0f3…Postcard
c. 1910German Lutheran Church, Nicollet, Minnesota - DPLA - …Postcard
c. 1910Pine Street Looking North, Nicollet, Minnesota - DPLA…Postcard
c. 1910Pine Street Looking South, Nicollet, Minnesota - DPLA…PostcardEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nicollet 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 Nicollet Township.
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 Nicollet Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 99 people in 1880 to 1,143 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Nicollet Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Nicollet Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Hebron, 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).
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.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.
