Red Wing’s post office opened in 1850, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns · #14 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
24 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 197 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1860.
The Red Wing post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1857. Another post office, Wah-Coo-Ta (1850), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,250 in 18602020 census: 16,547176 years
How historic is Red Wing?
A−
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Red Wing post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Red Wing’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Red Wing is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #14 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Red Wing’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 Red Wing’s 135 sits above most of its state (98% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 227 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1857 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 →
What stands out about Red Wing’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the early 1850s, settlers from Mississippi River steamboats came to Red Wing to farm in Goodhue County. They encroached on traditional territory of the Mdewakanton Sioux. Although many Mdewakanton left for the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation after the Treaty of Traverse de Sioux was ratified in May 1853, settlers burned the lodges of those who remained in April 1854.
Passages that mention Red Wing, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Goodhue County, Minnesota1909 · page 181Read the page →
Read the text
When the Dulutb. Red Wing & Southern railroad from Red Wing to Zumbrota was in course of construction during the year 1888 it was then that the village of Goodhue came into existence, at first consisting of the railroad camps which were here located during the building of several miles of the road up and down the line, the road being completed in the spring and early summer of 1889. When there was no longer any use for the railroad camps at this place and the tents and so forth had all been
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Goodhue County, Minnesota1909 · page 402Read the page →
Read the text
Red Wing and Wacoota, in part. (Range 14, township 113.) Much of the village of Red Wing had been claimed before the land office opened, that part of the property mentioned in the following list which is now included in Red Wing, having at that time been farm land in the outskirts.
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
Red Wing, 1850 to 1983
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings 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 Red Wing. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1944Red Wing 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 Red Wing.
Every building
Red Wing, building by building, 1884–1917
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.
The Red Wing post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1857.
How does Red Wing rank for history?
Red Wing is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #14 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 Red Wing?
24 listings: 20 buildings, among them the Minnesota State Training School (listed 1973, the first), 3 historic districts, the Red Wing Mall Historic District, the Red Wing Residential Historic District and the Oakwood Cemetery, with 197 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 227 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Red Wing?
26% of Red Wing’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1971.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (25), 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.
1868
2006
