Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Russell post office opened in 1889, 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 Russell’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Russell.
Russell was platted in 1888, and named for Russell Spicer, the son of the settler credited with bringing the railroad to the community. A post office has been in operation at Russell since 1889. Russell was incorporated in 1898.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Russell, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Russell was founded in 1888 and had its inception as a result of the building of the Willmar & Sioux Falls (Great Northern) railroad. Before the road was built, in the fall of 1887 it became known that one of the stations was to be located there19 and in May, 1888, the railroad officials announced that the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first Presbyterian church erected in Lyon county was located in Lyons township, not far from the future village of Russell. It was erected in 1873 and before a society of that denomination was organized in the village the people of Russell attended that church.25
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.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Russell post office opened in 1889, 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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.