The story
Read it all →How Slayton came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Slayton.
Slayton was platted in 1882 by Charles W. Slayton, and named for him.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
BHistory
History · Slayton
Slayton’s post office opened in 1881, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Dinehart-Holt House and the 4-H Club Building, Murray County Fairgrounds. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1980 on.
1881first post office
2on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
5famous people
Quick answers
How Slayton began
When was Slayton founded?
1881
The Slayton post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 2,013145 years
How historic is Slayton?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Slayton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Slayton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Slayton is more historic than 58% 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 Slayton’s overall grade.
Founding era1881, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194014.3% of homes (±4.1) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register2 listings, 9.3 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder
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 Slayton’s 9.3 sits above most of its state (75% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±4.1 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 Slayton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Slayton’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Slayton’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Slayton, 1881 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Slayton, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1980s2 items
19801990snothing 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
2014
2014
2014
2005Then & 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 viewMurray Theater, Broadway, 1980
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Slayton’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
2 historic places in Slayton
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Dinehart-Holt House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Stick Style1
Queen Anne1
Octagon1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Slayton
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Slayton’s post office has been open since 1881.
Gone or out of use
Slaytonlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Slayton’s history
What year was Slayton founded?
The Slayton post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Slayton rank for history?
Slayton is more historic than 58% 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 Slayton?
Two places: the Dinehart-Holt House (listed 1982) and the 4-H Club Building, Murray County Fairgrounds (2005).
How old are the homes in Slayton?
14% of Slayton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.