St. Michael’s post office opened in 1858, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #156 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of St. Michael was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Its Register listing is the Church of St. Michael-Catholic. Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1900.
The St. Michael post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Big Woods (1867), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 305 in 19002020 census: 18,235168 years
How historic is St. Michael?
C
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first St. Michael post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives St. Michael’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Michael is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #156 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Michael’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 St. Michael’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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.
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 St. Michael’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A post office called St. Michael has been in operation since 1858. The city took its name from St. Michael Roman Catholic Church. St. Michael was incorporated in 1890. The Corner Bar, a restaurant in service since 1897, was on 10 Main Street South downtown; it shut down on January 9, 2020, and was razed on August 14, 2020. A complete history of the city, Faith, Family and Farming, was written by Bob Zahler. The history is also tracked by the St. Michael Historical Society, whose mission is "to collect, preserve and share the history of the City of St. Michael".
Passages that mention St. Michael, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wright County, Minnesota volume II1915 · page 644Read the page →
Read the text
St. Michael. Feeling the need of a regular mail service the people of the Crow river settlement in March, 1857, entered into an agreement by which one of their number was to go to Dayton once each week, carrying all out-going mail, and bringing back the mail for the settlement. The first trip was made through water, ice and snow by I. Gutzwiller, Jr., and —— Demler. Early in 1858 the government established a regular mail route from Dayton to Rockford and Greenwood, and in June or July, Alex-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wright County, Minnesota volume II1915 · page 727Read the page →
Read the text
Albertville, formerly called St. Michael Station or St. Michael’s Station, is an enterprising business center, and an excellent trading point for a good farming district. The village is ineorporated, connected with the outside world by both telephone and telegraph and has excellent schools. Its business men are up and doing, carry large, well selected stocks and are making a bid for patronage in the way of prices that is felt in all sections. Albertville has about 450 inhabitants and is surrounded with as desirable
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
St. Michael, 1858 to 1997
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The St. Michael post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does St. Michael rank for history?
St. Michael is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #156 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 St. Michael?
One place: the Church of St. Michael-Catholic (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in St. Michael?
6% of St. Michael’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 1998.
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 (1), 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), 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.
2005