Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #240 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Otsego was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2008. Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1860.
The Otsego post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Berlin (1856), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Otsego is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #240 of 273 in Minnesota. Its age holds 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 Otsego’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: 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 →
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 Otsego’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Otsego.
Otsego first became an organized township in 1858, and was named after Otsego County, New York, where a party of settlers came from. The township incorporated as the city of Otsego in 1990.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Otsego, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Otsego, Otsego postoffice was established in 1896, near the section line between sections 17 and 18, Otsego township. John McDonald was the first postmaster. The postoffice was discontinued some ten years ago and.mail is now received from Elk River. The last postmistress was Josephine Spencer.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
At a meeting of the board of county commissioners held July 2, 1855, a petition was received for a county road from Waterville at the mouth of the Crow river through the town of Otsego to Monticello. This was the first county road. The petition was granted, and Philip Boyden, D. L. Ingersoll, and the county surveyor were appointed a committee to meet at the house of John McDonald on July 16, and lay out the road. At the same meeting a petition was received for a county road from John
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Otsego. 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 Otsego.
Grew from 320 people in 1860 to 19,966 in 2020, more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Otsego’s Wikipedia page.
Otsego had its own post office from 1857 to 1901. Another post office, Berlin, opened and closed inside today’s town.
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.
The Otsego post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Otsego is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #240 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.
2% of Otsego’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 2008.
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 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.
