Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Oronoco was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Its Register listing is the Oronoco School. Below: old-book passages.
Oronoco dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1855.
More historic than 37% 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 is more historic than 37% 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’s 6.0 sits above most of its state (66% 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’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oronoco.
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.
Passages that mention Oronoco, cut from the printed page as they were published.
William M. Pierce was known as General Pierce, probably being so entitled because there was a President Pierce of that rank. He was a resident of the village of Oronoco and one of its best known citizens. The occupation by which he was best known was the trial of suits in justices' courts. Though not, correctly speaking, a lawyer, he had acquired a fund of such knowledge as was necessary to his branch of the profession and was shrewd and pertinacious in the interests of his clients and enjoyed a large neighborhood popularity.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the canvass for the election Oronoco and Rochester were in competition. The future of each of the settlements was greatly dependent on its success in having the county so shaped that its village should be the geographical center and consequent county seat. Reuben Ottman, of Oronoco, and William D. Lowry, of Rochester, were the candidates for Councilman. The campaign was a spirited one and Lowry won out by twenty more than twice as many votes as Ottman got.
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.
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.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1854, according to Wikidata. Oronoco’s post office opened in 1855.
Oronoco is more historic than 37% 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 Oronoco School (listed 1980).
5% of Oronoco’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 2001.
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, 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.
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