The story
Read it all →How Winthrop came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Winthrop.
A post office called Winthrop has been in operation since 1882. Winthrop was incorporated as a city in 1910.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Winthrop
Winthrop’s post office opened in 1882, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1890.
1882first post office
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Winthrop began
When was Winthrop founded?
1882
The Winthrop post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Eagle City (1858), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 488 in 18902020 census: 1,332144 years
How historic is Winthrop?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Winthrop post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Winthrop’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winthrop is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Winthrop’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194030.2% of homes (±6.2) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MN town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
NewerOlder
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 Winthrop’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). 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 Winthrop’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Winthrop’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Winthrop’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Winthrop, building by building, 1894–1930
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Winthrop, 1858 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Winthrop, decade by decade
Today12 recent
2023Aerial view of Winthrop, Minnesota 2023-06-11
2016Winthrop, Minnesota Water Tower
2014Winthrope, MN
2014Winthrop, MN
2014Winthrop, MN - panoramio (7)
2014Winthrop, MN - panoramio (6)
2014Winthrop, MN - panoramio (5)
2014Winthrop, MN - panoramio (4)
2014Winthrop, MN - panoramio (3)
2014Winthrop, MN - panoramio (2)
2014Winthrop, MN - panoramio (1)
2014Cornfield - panoramio (2)On the map
Winthrop on the map, 1958 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winthrop. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Winthrop sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Winthrop.
People over time
Winthrop, census by census
Between 488 and 1,399 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Winthrop’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and old corners
Winthrop’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Eagle City, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Eagle City
Winthrop
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bussler Trailer Court
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.
Questions about Winthrop’s history
What year was Winthrop founded?
The Winthrop post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Winthrop rank for history?
Winthrop is more historic than 48% 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.
How old are the homes in Winthrop?
30% of Winthrop’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1957.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.