Winona dates to 1805, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #2 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
36 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 40 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1852.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Winona’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winona is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #2 of 273 in Minnesota. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Winona’s overall grade.
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 Winona’s 31.1 sits above most of its state (90% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 81 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1805.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Winona’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The site was of the village of Keoxa of Dakota people. But the name "Keoxa" is known only from one non-contemporary source, Edward Duffield Neill's The history of Minnesota—from the earliest French explorations to the present times. According to Neill, "Keoxa" best translated to "Homestead", and the name comes from annual ceremonial gatherings held there to honor the dead. The French knew the areas as La Prairie Aux-Ailes. The first American visitors called it Wahpasha's Prairie. The modern city is named after Winona, a figure in a Dakota legend.
Passages that mention Winona, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the history of winona country minnesota1913 · page 919Read the page →
Read the text
refused on aceount of his health. Then he moved to Olmsted county, this state, and took up farming. For а time he was also a circuit rider in the Methodist church. In 1865 he came back to Winona county, bought 240 acres of land in New Hartford township, Winona county, and remained here until 1886, when he went to Sioux City, la. He returned to Winona county in 1890 and took up his residence in the city of Winona, where he died January 25, 1899, at the age of 69 years.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the history of winona country minnesota1913 · page 1069Read the page →
Read the text
. The good roads movement began in what is now Winona county as early as 1853, when the county commissioners of Fillmore county made provision for a road from Wabasha Prairie (now the city of Winona) to the settlement at Rollinestone (now the village of Minnesota City. For many years afterward the attention of the commissioners was largely devoted to road matters.
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.
Timeline
Winona, 1805 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winona. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1972Winona West sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Winona.
Every building
Winona, building by building, 1884–1917
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1805, according to Wikidata. Winona’s post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1860 counted 2,464 people here.
How does Winona rank for history?
Winona is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #2 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 Winona?
36 listings: 31 buildings, among them the Winona County Courthouse (listed 1970, the first), 3 historic districts, the East Second Street Commercial Historic District, the Winona Commercial Historic District and the Windom Park Residential Historic District, with 40 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 81 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Winona?
40% of Winona’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (36), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1880
1880
