Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Plato

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Plato

Plato’s post office opened in 1858, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1880.

1858first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Plato began

When was Plato founded?

1858

The Plato post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 49 in 18802020 census: 329168 years
Founding year: the first Plato post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Plato’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Plato are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Plato’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Plato’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Plato came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Plato.

Read it all →

A post office called Plato has been in operation since 1858. The city was named for Plato, a Greek philosopher.

At approximately 10:13 P.M. on Thursday, November 10, 1955, a Studebaker sedan carrying six teenagers was struck by a westbound Milwaukee Road passenger train at one of the town's two railroad crossings, leaving no survivors. The county's worst vehicular and railroad accident in its history sent shockwaves across Minnesota and across the country.

The group were out celebrating a farewell party for one of its members: 18-year-old Robert A. Luedtke, who had recently enlisted in the United States Navy and was ordered to leave his home for basic training four days later.

Chapters1955 Plato auto-train collision

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Plato, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Plato MN 22011Plato MN 2Plato MN 12011Plato MN 1MNMap-doton-Plato2005MNMap-doton-Plato
On the map

Plato on the map, 1958 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Plato. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Plato on the 1958 USGS mapPlato on the 1982 USGS map1958Glencoe sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Plato.

People over time

Plato, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 390

Between 49 and 390 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Plato’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Plato’s history

What year was Plato founded?

The Plato post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (3), Wikipedia, 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.