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BHistory
History · Rush City

Rush City’s post office opened in 1870, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #89 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Grant House and the J. C. Carlson House. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
2on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Rush City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Rush City began

When was Rush City founded?

1870

The Rush City post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Rush (1895), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 580 in 18802020 census: 3,228156 years

How historic is Rush City?

B

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Rush City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Rush City’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rush City is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #89 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rush City’s overall grade.
Founding era1870, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.1% of homes (±5.3) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 9.1 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 68%

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 Rush City’s 9.1 sits above most of its state (75% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Rush City’s past

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

Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1923, drew every building in Rush City.A town in old photos16 old photos, postcards and papers, 1909–1975.
★ What stands out · Every building

Rush City, building by building, 1894–1923

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.

Rush City fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Rush City, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s12 items
Main St. & Ave. D., Rush City, Minn1909Main St. & Ave. D., Rush City, MinnMain St. & Ave. D., Rush City, Minn1909Main St. & Ave. D., Rush City, MinnMercantile Co., Rush City, Minn. Interior1909Mercantile Co., Rush City, Minn. InteriorMercantile Co., Rush City, Minn. Interior1909Mercantile Co., Rush City, Minn. InteriorRush City Minn., Ave. D & 3rd St1909Rush City Minn., Ave. D & 3rd StRush City Minn., Ave. D & 3rd St1909Rush City Minn., Ave. D & 3rd StRush City, Minn., Main St. & Ave. B1909Rush City, Minn., Main St. & Ave. BRush City, Minn., Main St. & Ave. B1909Rush City, Minn., Main St. & Ave. BRush City, Minn., Panoramic view. Fronting Main St1909Rush City, Minn., Panoramic view. Fronting Main StRush City, Minn., Panoramic view. Fronting Main St1909Rush City, Minn., Panoramic view. Fronting Main StRush City, Minn., Park, Main St. & Depot1909Rush City, Minn., Park, Main St. & DepotRush City, Minn., Park, Main St. & Depot1909Rush City, Minn., Park, Main St. & Depot
1920s–1970s4 items
RushCity19221922RushCity1922Thompson farmstead 19571957Thompson farmstead 1957Rush City tornado1958Rush City tornadoJohnson Block - ca. 19751975Johnson Block - ca. 1975
1980s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
JC Carlson House2009JC Carlson HouseMNMap-doton-Rush City2005MNMap-doton-Rush City
The story so far

Rush City, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rush City yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Rush City is a city in Chisago County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,228 at the 2020 census. It is 93 kilometers (58 miles) north of Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,079 to 3,228 (+5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Rush City, 1870 to 1975

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Rush City post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Rush post office opens
  4. 1895Post officeThe Rush post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1909In the archiveMain St. & Ave. D., Rush City, Minn
  7. 1918Born hereRuth Duccini is born here
  8. 1922In the archiveRushCity1922
  9. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1957In the archiveThompson farmstead 1957
  11. 1975In the archiveJohnson Block - ca. 1975
On the map

Rush City on the map, 1955 to 1983

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

Rush City on the 1955 USGS mapRush City on the 1983 USGS map1955Rush City 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 Rush City.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Main St. & Ave. D., Rush City, Minn
Retake this viewMain St. & Ave. D., Rush City, Minn, 1909

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Rush City’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Rush City

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Grant House
Grant HouseJ. C. Carlson House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Grant HouseBuilding
J. C. Carlson HouseQueen Anne

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Rush City, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,500188019001920194019601980200020203,228

Grew from 580 people in 1880 to 3,228 in 2020, 5 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Rush City’s post office has been open since 1870. Another post office, Rush, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rush City
1870–today
Rush
1895–1895
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Rush Meadows Mobile Home ParkStenger's Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Rush City
Calvary

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Rush City’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMain St. & Ave. D., Rush City, Minn: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Rushseba TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNessel TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Rush City’s history

What year was Rush City founded?

The Rush City post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Rush City rank for history?

Rush City is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #89 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 Rush City?

Two places: the Grant House (listed 1980) and the J. C. Carlson House (1980).

How old are the homes in Rush City?

13% of Rush City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1988.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.