Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #140 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1880.
The Paynesville post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, New Paynesville (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Paynesville is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #140 of 273 in Minnesota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Paynesville’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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Paynesville.
Paynesville was platted in 1857 by Edwin E. Payne, and named for him. The town was completely evacuated to the relative safety of Richmond and St. Cloud during the 1862 Dakota War; the Dakota burned the townsite to the ground. The town was subsequently rebuilt, this time with the addition of a wooden stockade built by the U.S. Army.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Paynesville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Paynesville Township. The first school in the township of Paynesville was taught within the present village limits, but since the history of the Independent districts has been assigned to others it need not be dwelt on at any greater length here.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The village of Paynesville was regularly organized as a village in 1887. The village of New Paynesville was organized in 1890.
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 archiveWashburn Ave
Born hereLisa Demuth is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Paynesville. 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 Paynesville.
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 Paynesville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 127 and 2,432 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Paynesville’s Wikipedia page.
Paynesville’s post office has been open since 1857. Another post office, New Paynesville, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Paynesville post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Paynesville is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #140 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.
19% of Paynesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 the Library of Congress (6), 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.
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