Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Little Falls and Dakota Depot. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1890.
The Starbuck post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, White Bear Centre (1869), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Starbuck is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Starbuck’s 8.1 sits above most of its state (72% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Starbuck’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Starbuck.
Starbuck was platted in the spring of 1882, as a village on the Northern Pacific railway, adjoining Lake Minnewaska. The growth and settlement of Pope County were greatly impeded for many years by the lack of railway and shipping facilities, which obliged settlers to go long distances into adjoining counties to market their products.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Starbuck. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Starbuck.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 224 people in 1890 to 1,365 in 2020, 6 times over.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Starbuck’s Wikipedia page.
Starbuck’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, White Bear Centre, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Starbuck post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Starbuck is more historic than 54% 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.
One place: the Little Falls and Dakota Depot (listed 2006).
14% of Starbuck’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 1973.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.
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