Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Racine post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Racine’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Racine yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Racine ( ray-SEEN) is a city in Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 458 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 442 to 458 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Racine, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Village School. The village of Racine has a semi-graded school Avith three teachers. The early history of this school has not been preserved. S. Utzinger, who has investigated tlie matter, writes as follows: "I find minutes of a regular school meeting held March 27, 1869, and from then on every year, but no record previous to that. I find the school register for 1868. The schoolhouse at that time was about three-quarters of a mile east of where it now stands. I find the record of a special meeting
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Joe, and then made the trip from Chicago to Racine township, Slower county, where, during his absence, his parents had located. He purchased land and engaged in farming, tilling the soil and prospering withal, until he owned 240 acres, the village of Racine standing on what was originally a part of his farm.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Racine itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Racine’s post office has been open since 1879.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Racine post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 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.