Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
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 Plainview Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Plainview Township.
Plainview was platted in 1857. The city was named from its location on a plain at a lofty elevation, where a "plain view" can be had of the surrounding area. A post office has been in operation at Plainview since 1857. Plainview was incorporated in 1875.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Plainview Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
County. He grew to manhood on the parental farm, which in time he rented, conducting it on his own account for a year and a half. He then rented a farm in Highland Township, Wabasha County, for one year, and after that, in 1915, purchased a farm of 95V2 acres in Plainview Township, section 4, where he farmed until the fall of 1919. Then selling his farm, he moved to the village of Plainview and purchased his present home, a handsome seven-room bunga¬ low. He is now salesman for the Independent Co., selling silos and milking-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Plainview Township lies in the extreme southern part of Wabasha County, and is bounded, generally speaking, by Highland Township, Wabasha County, on the north; Whitewater Township, Winona County, on the east; Quincy Township, Olmstead County on the south; and Elgin Township, Wabasha County, on the west. Its eastern line is coincident with the First Guide Meri¬ dian of the Government Survey. Its northern line is coincident with the Second Standard Parallel of the Government Survey, and for this reason Government Township 108-11 which constitutes Plainview Township, does not fall squarely
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.
Another post office, Woodland, 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.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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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