Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Depot. Below: maps from 1985 on and the census since 1890.
The Wheaton post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lake Valley (1879), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wheaton is more historic than 61% 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 Wheaton’s 7.2 sits above most of its state (70% 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 Wheaton’s history is told.
Peaked at 2,102 in 1960; 1,460 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wheaton’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Wheaton.
A post office called Wheaton has been in operation since 1884. Wheaton was designated county seat in 1886. The city was named for Daniel Thompson Wheaton, a railroad surveyor. One property in the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Wheaton Depot, built circa 1906.
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.
Born hereMichael Colley is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wheaton.
1985Wheaton sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wheaton.
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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Wheaton’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Lake Valley, 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 Wheaton post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Wheaton is more historic than 61% 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 Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Depot (listed 1985).
21% of Wheaton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 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 (4), 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) 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.
2023
2013
2011
2005