Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the First National Bank and the Andrew C. Dunn House. Its Register listings are the First National Bank and the Andrew C. Dunn House. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1868 on and old-book passages.
The Winnebago post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Winnebago City (1857), 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, Winnebago 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 Winnebago’s 23.4 sits above most of its state (86% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Winnebago.
Winnebago was originally called Winnebago City, and under the latter name was laid out in 1856. The city was named after the Winnebago Indians, who had recently been moved to a reservation nearby from a location further north near Long Prairie. A post office was established as Winnebago City in 1857, and "city" was dropped from the name in 1905.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Winnebago, cut from the printed page as they were published.
"An act to amend an act incorporating the village of Winnebago City." "An act to authorize the county commissioners of this county to issue bonds for the purpose of liuilding a jail."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
2d. To incorporate the village of Winnebago City. 3d. To authorize the village council of Wells, to issue bonds for certain purposes.
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.
In the archiveNarcissa Latimer letter to sisters, November 29, 1868
In the archiveNarcissa Latimer letter to Alexander and Sarah Latimer, November 17, 1884
In the archiveEnvelope to Mrs. A. [Sarah] Latimer, December 8, 18913 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1868Narcissa Latimer letter to sisters, November 29, 1868Document
1868Narcissa Latimer letter to sisters, November 29, 1868Document1884Narcissa Latimer letter to Alexander and Sarah Latime…Document
1884Narcissa Latimer letter to Alexander and Sarah Latime…Document1891Envelope to Mrs. A. [Sarah] Latimer, December 8, 1891
1892Envelope addressed to Sarah Latimer, June 3, 1892No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![Envelope to Mrs. A. [Sarah] Latimer, December 8, 1891](https://images.townratings.com/story/8661/784b03f816b74ed5bacb-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Winnebago’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.
Winnebago’s post office has been open since 1905. Another post office, Winnebago City, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Winnebago post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Winnebago 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.
Two places: the First National Bank (listed 1980) and the Andrew C. Dunn House (1980).
29% of Winnebago’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1955.
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, 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.
