Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1908 on.
The Nicollet post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Nicollet Station (1873), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nicollet is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. 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 Nicollet’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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Nicollet.
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 - 8d0f303e1d0e2e298ee2d18a265371632 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…PostcardNo 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’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Nicollet itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Nicollet’s post office has been open since 1858. Another post office, Nicollet Station, 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.
The Nicollet post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Nicollet is more historic than 31% 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.
13% of Nicollet’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1982.
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, 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.
