Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the St. Joseph's Church-Catholic. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1900.
Pierz dates its founding to 1869 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pierz is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 Pierz’s 7.0 sits above most of its state (69% 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 Pierz’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Pierz.
Pierz was named for Father Francis Xavier Pierz (Slovene: Franc Pirc), a Slovenian Roman Catholic priest who came to Minnesota in the early 1850s as a missionary to the native Ojibwe people. The town was incorporated on January 12, 1892, under the name "Rich Prairie", but on August 15, 1894, the residents voted to change the name to Pierz in F. X. Pierz's honor.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereJohn Stumpf is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pierz. 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 Pierz.
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.
Grew from 358 people in 1900 to 1,418 in 2020, 3 times over.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pierz’s Wikipedia page.
Pierz’s post office has been open since 1870. Another post office, Rich Prairie, 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.
In 1869, according to Wikidata. Pierz’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1900 counted 358 people here.
Pierz is more historic than 65% 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 St. Joseph's Church-Catholic (listed 1985).
26% of Pierz’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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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