Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Oronoco Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Frank's Ford Bridge.
Oronoco Township dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata).
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oronoco Township is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Oronoco Township’s 4.0 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Oronoco Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oronoco Township.
The city was named by early settler Hector Galloway after the Orinoco, a large river in South America. A village was founded in 1854 and platted in 1855. The village incorporated as a city on March 6, 1968. Oronoco Township, which is adjacent on three sides, was organized in 1858. It is a bedroom community for nearby Rochester.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
The 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.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
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 Wikidata.
Oronoco Township is more historic than 34% 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 Frank's Ford Bridge (listed 1980).
4% of Oronoco Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1988.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia 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.
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