Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #151 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1870.
The Plainview post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Greenville (1856), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plainview is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #151 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 Plainview’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 Plainview’s history is told.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Plainview.
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, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Sparta, Wis. Three years later, in 1863, they came to Wabasha County, arriv¬ ing in midwinter with three children under five years of age, and located on a purchased farm of 160 acres, section 39, township of Highland. Later they sold this place and bought 106 acres in the township of Plainview, one and a half miles northeast of the village of the same name. There they resided until 1893, when, under President Cleveland’s first administration, he was appointed postmaster of Plainview, being reappointed for the second term of Cleveland’s administration, he moved his family into town and built him a home there. A
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1874 the Church of Christ was given a charter of incorporation. The following is a copy of the proceedings: “We do hereby certify that at a meeting held at the chapel, in the town of Plainview in the county of Wabasha and the state of Minnesota, on the 21st day of July, 1874, in accordance with notice given 15 days previous thereto, for the purpose of Organizing and Incorporating a ‘Society for Divine Worship/ to be known and designated by the name of ‘Christian Church/ John Truax was duly elected president of said meeting and Dwight Leach was elected secretary
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Plainview. 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 Plainview.
Grew from 637 people in 1870 to 3,483 in 2020, 5 times over.
15 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Plainview’s Wikipedia page.
Plainview’s post office has been open since 1857. Another post office, Greenville, 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).
The Plainview post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Plainview is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #151 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.
16% of Plainview’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (5), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
2024
2016
2015
2010
2005