Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register.
The Oakes post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hudson (1883), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Oakes was named for Thomas F. Oakes, a railroad official.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oakes is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
North Dakota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical North Dakota town has 2.8 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Oakes’ 26.9 sits above most of its state (85% of North Dakota towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 Oakes’s history is told.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oakes.
Oakes was laid out in 1886. It was named for Thomas F. Oakes, a railroad official. A post office has been in operation in Oakes since 1886. The city was incorporated in 1888.
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 hereSarala Nagala is born hereWriters, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Oakes’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Hudson, 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 Oakes post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Oakes is more historic than 77% 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.
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Klein and Sutmar Block (listed 1987, the first). 5 historic buildings in all.
28% of Oakes’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.2 points), against a typical 7.2% for a North Dakota town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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