Ramsey dates to 1974, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #261 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Ramsey was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listing is the District No. 28 School. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1852.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ramsey’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ramsey is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #261 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ramsey’s overall grade.
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 Ramsey’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1974.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
What stands out about Ramsey’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Itasca
1852–1854
Itaska
1854–1879
Demarest
1897–1902
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Itasca Village
Gone or out of use
Baker SchoolschoolBreezy Point SchoolschoolDemarest Post Officepost officeFaherty SchoolschoolGateway North Industrial AirportairportItaska Post Officepost officeTrout Brook Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Ramsey
Trott Brook
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Ramsey on the map, 1916 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ramsey. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1916St Francis 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 Ramsey.
The first settlers in Ramsey were Thomas A. Holmes and James Beatty, who built the Old Log Trading Post in 1849. Itasca Village was platted in 1852. The village contained the first post office in Anoka County and a station on the Northern Pacific Railroad. Itasca Village was abandoned soon after the removal of the Winnebago Indians in the area. In 1857 the first township, Watertown, was created. It was later renamed Dover, and then Ramsey. Ramsey was incorporated on November 12, 1974, with a population of about 8,000 people.
Passages that mention Ramsey, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Ramsey County and the city of St. Paul, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota1881 · page 273Read the page →
Read the text
town of While Bear on tlie east, t<ivvn of Rose on the south and by Hennepin and Anoka counties on the west. It is the north-western township of Ramsey county, and has an area of thirty-six full sections. The soil is sandy and not well adapted to the raising of grain but owing to the number of lakes, the town presents a line field to the stock raiser or dairyman.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ramsey County and the city of St. Paul, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota1881 · page 247Read the page →
Read the text
Anthony led to the latter being set off from Ramsey county and made part of Hennepin county in 1850, where it has ever since remained. From the nature of its industries, and the characteristics of its people, it is undoubtedly more at home where it is, tlian it ever could have been as a pait of Ramsey comity. The separation was mutually advantageous.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota1905 · page 287Read the page →
Read the text
part in the battle at Antietam. In 1864 he bought 160 acres in section 2, town of Bethel. He dealt in real estate considerably and lived on various farms in Bethel until his removal to the town of Ramsey about 1886. About 1892 he moved to Anoka, where he has since lived. In the spring of 1904 he formed a partnership with Josiah Vrooman in the manufacture of concrete sidewalks, and over a mile of the walk was laid during that season. Mr. Ridge was married Sept. 4, 1864,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Anoka County and the towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota1905 · page 284Read the page →
Read the text
water Nov. 17, and to Anoka Co. the following year. He followed lumbering, working in the woods and saw mills at Anoka. He was in the Woodbury saw mill some six or seven years. Came to his present farm in the town of Ramsey in 1862. He has 200 acres in sections 10 and 15, about 60 of which are under cultivation. He was married Oct. 4, 1871, to Charlotte S. Rogers. Children: Julia R. (Mrs. T. Harry Rand), and Susan J.
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.
Timeline
Ramsey, 1852 to 1985
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1974, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ramsey’s post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1860 counted 192 people here.
How does Ramsey rank for history?
Ramsey is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #261 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.
What is on the National Register in Ramsey?
One place: the District No. 28 School (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in Ramsey?
0.9% of Ramsey’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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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