Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Heins Block. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1982 on, and the census since 1880.
Olivia dates its founding to 1878 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Olivia is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls 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 Olivia’s 4.5 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Olivia’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Olivia.
Olivia was platted in 1878, and named for a female station agent named Olive, according to local history. A post office has been in operation at Olivia since 1879. The county seat moved from Beaver Falls to Olivia in 1900.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Olivia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
MeMahon, A. R. McCorquodale, J. A. McCorquodale, T. B. Mc- Ilraith, H. H. Neuenburg, A. N. Nelson, A. W. Novak, S. E. Nelson, John Nester, A. H. Nenow, Olivia Roller Mills, Olivia Commercial Club, Olivia Hardware Co., Olivia Bottling Works, Olivia State Bank, Olivia Canning Co., Olivia Produce Co., Olivia Motor Car Co.. Olivia Mercantile Co., Mrs. Mable Otto. P. F. O'Neil, Jas. O'Neil. Wm. O'Neil, Wm. Owens, Olson Bros., C. J. Olson, W. A. Obriham, J. Oelschlager, G. M. Peters, Paulson & Storch,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Catholic parish of Olivia was officially organized and incorporated in 1888. It was on the seventeenth of May, 1888, that several Catholic men "of the village and vicinity" met in Olivia, "for the purpose of locating a site for a Catholic Church in said village."
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveGuernsey. - A Field of Chrysanthemums. (NBY 440689)
In the archiveDepot
Born herePaul F. Heard is born here
Born hereAndi Story is born here
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.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Olivia.
1982Olivia sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Olivia.
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 Olivia’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 48 and 2,802 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Olivia’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Olivia’s post office has been open since 1879.
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 1878, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Olivia’s post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1880 counted 48 people here.
Olivia is more historic than 58% 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.
One place: the Heins Block (listed 2001).
21% of Olivia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.
1910
Date?
2023
2012
