Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1900.
Porter dates its founding to 1881 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.
Porter was named for L. C. Porter, a mill owner and early settler.
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 Porter’s history is told.
Peaked at 291 in 1950; 166 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Porter’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Porter.
Porter was platted in October 1881 when the Winona and St. Peter Railroad was extended to that point. It was named for L. C. Porter, a mill owner and early settler. A post office has been in operation in Porter since 1882. Porter was incorporated on February 16, 1898.
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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Porter. 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 Porter.
Nobody well known was born in Porter itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Porter’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Dalston, 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 1881, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Porter’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1900 counted 196 people here.
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 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.
