Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the First National Bank and the Tracy Municipal Building and Armory. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1968 on and old-book passages.
The Tracy post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Summit (1874) and Shetek (1875), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Tracy was named for John F. Tracy, a railroad official.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tracy is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds 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 Tracy’s 9.7 sits above most of its state (76% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 Tracy’s history is told.
Tracy’s post office has been open since 1877. Two other post offices 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Tracy.
Tracy was platted in 1875. It was named for John F. Tracy, a railroad official. A post office called Tracy has been in operation since 1877. The city was incorporated in 1893.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Tracy, cut from the printed page as they were published.
grasshoppers were a burden and not much progress was made. During the summer the name of the village was changed from Shetek Station to Tracy"' and the railroad company erected a depot building. At that time the county paper referred to Tracy as a village of two or three stores, two church build-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. Davis lived on the farm until the railroad was built westward from Tracy in 1879. Then he moved to Tracy and worked with the bridge builders on the new line between Tracy and Huron. He resided in Tracy until 1887, part of the time working at the carpenter's trade. In the year last mentioned Mr. Davis took up his residence
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJim Vickerman is born here
Born hereCurt Brasket is born here
In the archive1968 Tracy tornadoOne decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Tracy’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Tracy post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Tracy is more historic than 69% 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.
Two places: the First National Bank (listed 1982) and the Tracy Municipal Building and Armory (2023).
25% of Tracy’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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