Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #223 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Oak Grove was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1860.
Oak Grove dates its founding to 1854 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oak Grove is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #223 of 273 in Minnesota. Its age 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 Oak Grove’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: Wikipedia (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 →
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 Oak Grove’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oak Grove. 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 Oak Grove.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oak Grove.
Oak Grove first became an organized township in 1857, and was so named because of the large groves of oak trees in the area. The village of Oak Grove was founded in 1854, and a post office operated from 1857 to 1901. The township incorporated as the city of Oak Grove in 1993.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyGrew from 231 people in 1860 to 8,929 in 2020, more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oak Grove’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Oak Grove itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Oak Grove had its own post office from 1857 to 1901.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Oak Grove’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1860 counted 231 people here.
Oak Grove is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #223 of 273 in Minnesota. 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.
3% of Oak Grove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (1), 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.
2005