Founding year: the first Spring Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1951.
History grade
What drives Spring Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spring Park is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spring Park’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 Spring Park’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1951.
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 →
The story so far
Spring Park, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Spring Park yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Spring Park is a city nestled on the shores of Lake Minnetonka in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and is about 20 miles west of Minneapolis. The population was 1,734 at the 2020 census. The small town is rich in history. What is now Spring Park was once the grounds of Hotel Del Otero, a summer lake resort built by James J. Hill. It was incorporated in 1951 and at that time had a population of a little over 200.
Its first post office opened in 1896. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,669 to 1,734 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
Spring Park, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
The Spring Park post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1951.
How does Spring Park rank for history?
Spring Park is more historic than 22% 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.
How old are the homes in Spring Park?
6% of Spring Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 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.
1905
1905
1905
1905
1905
2007
