Most of Nisswa was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listings are the Grand View Lodge and the Minnewawa Lodge. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Nisswa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Nisswa’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nisswa is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nisswa’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 Nisswa’s 20.5 sits above most of its state (84% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Nisswa’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Smiley Township was founded in 1900, but local resident Leon Lum convinced residents to rename it Nisswa, from the Ojibwe word "nessawae" (which means "in the middle" or "three"), when the town was incorporated as a village in 1908. Nisswa became a municipality on December 4, 1946. Nisswa has become a popular tourist destination due to its shops, resorts, and lakes in close proximity. The Paul Bunyan State Trail, a rail trail, runs through Nisswa.
The Nisswa post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Nisswa rank for history?
Nisswa 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.
What is on the National Register in Nisswa?
Two places: the Grand View Lodge (listed 1980) and the Minnewawa Lodge (1980).
How old are the homes in Nisswa?
7% of Nisswa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1990.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
2016
2011
2011
2011
2006
2006
