Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #257 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it
Most of Zimmerman was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1910.
The Zimmerman post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lake Fremont (1865), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Zimmerman is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #257 of 273 in Minnesota. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Zimmerman’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.
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 Zimmerman’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Zimmerman.
The Village of Lake Fremont was incorporated in 1910. In 1967, the town was renamed the City of Zimmerman. Lake Fremont was named for the western explorer, John C. Frémont, and the name Zimmerman derives from Moses Zimmerman, a local farmer who was influential in promoting the idea of the Great Northern Railway coming through the area.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Zimmerman. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Zimmerman.
Grew from 175 people in 1910 to 6,189 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Zimmerman’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Zimmerman itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Zimmerman’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Lake Fremont, 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 Zimmerman post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Zimmerman is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #257 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.
0.9% of Zimmerman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 2003.
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), 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.
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