Owatonna’s post office opened in 1855, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #48 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them the National Farmers' Bank, a National Historic Landmark, and three historic districts with 98 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1860.
The Owatonna post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Clinton Falls (1857) and Tudor (1857), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 609 in 18602020 census: 26,420171 years
How historic is Owatonna?
B+
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Owatonna post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Owatonna’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Owatonna is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #48 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Owatonna’s overall grade.
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 Owatonna’s 39.6 sits above most of its state (92% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 105 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Owatonna’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Owatonna, building by building, 1884–1915
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Whites settled in the Owatonna area in 1853 around the Straight River. Most of the white settlers were Yankees from New England and Upstate New York. The community was named after the Straight River, which in the Dakota language is Wakpá Owóthaŋna. A popular, but apocryphal, story is that the town is named after "Princess Owatonna", the daughter of local Native American Chief Wabena who was supposedly healed by a nearby spring's magic waters, which were said to be rich in iron and sulfur. The earliest the Owatonna area was settled was in 1854. It was platted in September 1855, incorporated as a town on August 9, 1858, and as a city on February 23, 1865.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Owatonna post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Owatonna rank for history?
Owatonna is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #48 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.
What is on the National Register in Owatonna?
10 listings: 7 buildings, among them the National Farmers' Bank (a National Historic Landmark since 1976), and 3 historic districts, the Owatonna Commercial Historic District, the Pillsbury Academy Campus Historic District and the Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children, with 98 contributing buildings. 105 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Owatonna?
14% of Owatonna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (8), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
★ Landmark
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