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CHistory
History · Victoria

Victoria’s post office opened in 1883, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #168 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Wendelin Grimm Farmstead and the Laketown Moravian Brethren's Church. Most of Victoria was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1920.

1883first post office
2on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Victoria began

When was Victoria founded?

1883

The Victoria post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Laketown (1860), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 206 in 19202020 census: 10,546143 years

How historic is Victoria?

C

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Victoria post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Victoria’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Victoria is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #168 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 Victoria’s overall grade.
Founding era1883, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.4% of homes (±1.6) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 1.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 31%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 39%

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 Victoria’s 1.8 sits near the middle of its state (53% 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 C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Victoria’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Victoria are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19053 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1993. Watch Victoria change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Victoria’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Victoria’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Victoria on the map, 1905 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Victoria. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Victoria on the 1905 USGS mapVictoria on the 1958 USGS mapVictoria on the 1993 USGS map1905Minnetonka sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Victoria.

The story

How Victoria came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Victoria.

Read it all →

Michael Diethelm is believed to be the first settler in Victoria after setting up a shelter for his wife and two children in 1851 near the present-day St. Victoria Church. The city is named after the church, built on 30 acres (120,000 m2) of land just north of Lake Bavaria in 1857. A year later, steamboats from St. Paul began bringing additional supplies for early settlers. The settlement continued to grow as the rich soil attracted farmers. Also in 1858, the Laketown Moravian Brethren's Church was established and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Eventually the steamboats to Chaska and the St. Paul railroad helped transform the area into a thriving community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Victoria, 1860 to 1905

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Laketown post office opens
  3. 1876BuiltWendelin Grimm Farmstead is built
  4. 1883Post officeThe Laketown post office closes
  5. 1883Post officeThe Victoria post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Victoria, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Ictoria2020IctoriaSteiger Lake, Victoria MN Sept 20192019Steiger Lake, Victoria MN Sept 2019Downtown Victoria, Minnesota, Sept 2019 32019Downtown Victoria, Minnesota, Sept 2019 3Downtown Victoria, Minnesota, Sept 2019 22019Downtown Victoria, Minnesota, Sept 2019 2Downtown Victoria, Minnesota, Sept 2019 12019Downtown Victoria, Minnesota, Sept 2019 1
On the National Register

2 historic places in Victoria

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
1974
Wendelin Grimm Farmstead
Wendelin Grimm Farmstead, built 1876Laketown Moravian Brethren's Church
BuildingsSites
Wendelin Grimm FarmsteadBuilt 1876
Laketown Moravian Brethren's ChurchBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Victoria, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00019201940196019802000202010,546

Grew from 206 people in 1920 to 10,546 in 2020, more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Victoria’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Victoria’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Laketown, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Laketown
1860–1883
Victoria
1883–today
18601940today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Victoria
Lake Auburn MoravianSaint Victoria

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Laketown Township2 historic placesB+Chanhassen2 historic placesCChaska9 historic placesC+Minnetrista2 historic placesB−Shorewood1 historic placeC−

Questions about Victoria’s history

What year was Victoria founded?

The Victoria post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Victoria rank for history?

Victoria is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #168 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 Victoria?

Two places: the Wendelin Grimm Farmstead (listed 1974) and the Laketown Moravian Brethren's Church (1980).

How old are the homes in Victoria?

2% of Victoria’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 2006.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.