The story
Read it all →How Shorewood came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Shorewood.
Shorewood was incorporated out of Excelsior Township in 1956 to avoid annexation by neighboring municipalities.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Gideon, Peter, Farmhouse · Photo: Elkman · CC BY-SA 4.0C−History
History · Shorewood
Shorewood dates to 1956, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #211 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Shorewood was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Gideon, Peter, Farmhouse. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1860.
1956founded
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
1famous people
Quick answers
How Shorewood began
When was Shorewood founded?
1956
Shorewood dates its founding to 1956 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.
First census: 317 in 18602020 census: 7,78370 years
How historic is Shorewood?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1892.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Shorewood’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Shorewood is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #211 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Shorewood’s overall grade.
Founding era1956, from Wikipedia: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19406.6% of homes (±2.5) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 1.3 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 23%
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 Shorewood’s 1.3 sits near the middle of its state (52% 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 1956.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 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 Shorewood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · On the map
Shorewood on the map, 1905 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shorewood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Minnetonka sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Shorewood.
Help out
Start Shorewood’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shorewood’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Shorewood, 1892 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1892Post officeThe Eureka post office opens
- 20th century
- 1905
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1943Post officeThe Eureka post office closes
- 1956FoundingShorewood is established
- 1984
Born hereJohn Curry is born here
By decade
Shorewood, decade by decade
Date unknown5 to date
Date?
Date?
Date?
Date?
Date?
2023
2008
2007
2006Then & 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.
Retake this viewCemetery of the Resurrection
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Shorewood’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Shorewood
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Gideon, Peter, Farmhouse
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Neo-Colonial1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Shorewood, census by census
Grew from 317 people in 1860 to 7,783 in 2020, more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shorewood’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Eureka, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Eureka
Gone or out of use
Eureka Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Shorewood
ResurrectionWoodside
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Shorewood’s history
What year was Shorewood founded?
In 1956, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Shorewood’s post office opened in 1892, and the census of 1860 counted 317 people here.
How does Shorewood rank for history?
Shorewood is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #211 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 Shorewood?
One place: the Gideon, Peter, Farmhouse (listed 1974).
How old are the homes in Shorewood?
7% of Shorewood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1987.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (9), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.