Founding year: the first Rushford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rushford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rushford is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rushford’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 Rushford’s 21.9 sits above most of its state (85% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±5.6 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 Rushford’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 first pioneers pole-boated up the Root River to the junction of Rush Creek, peering through 10-foot tall grasses to see what astonishing beauty the bluff lands had to offer. The early settlers gave Rushford its name on Christmas Day in 1854, during a chicken supper hosted by Capt. Dyer. The name stems from the nearby Rush Creek, which had tall Rushes growing along its banks. The area was once referred to as “Trail City” because seven Indian trails met at the creek. The Wieser Brothers were said to be the first founders of the city and quickly followed by hundreds.
Passages that mention Rushford, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1)1912 · page 262Read the page →
Read the text
Oullickson; justices of the peace, Peter Peterson and Hiram Walker. Arendahl was separated from Rushford in 1860. In 1888 the entire township of Rushford, outside of the city of Rushford, was incorporated as the village of Rushford. The first village board in 1888, according to the books now in the possession of Asmund Vaagen, the present village recorder, consisted of the following : President, Charles Davis ; trustees, Henry Stage, H. H. Baker, H. 0. Anderson; recorder, George O. West; treas-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Fillmore County, Minnesota (Volume 1)1912 · page 76Read the page →
Read the text
Rushford Precinct embraced townships 103 and 104 in ranges 8 and 9; that is, the present townships of Rushford, Arendahl, Norway and Holt, and those two sections now included in Carrolton which properly belong in the government township which embraces Holt. The judges of election were to be E. K. Dyer, G. Edmonds and Peter Peterson, and the election was to be held at the home of E. K. Dyer in Rushford.
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
Rushford, 1856 to 1995
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Rushford’s history
What year was Rushford founded?
The Rushford post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Rushford rank for history?
Rushford is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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 Rushford?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Rushford City Mill (listed 1982, the first).
How old are the homes in Rushford?
23% of Rushford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (4), 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.
2006
2006
2005