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History · Maiden Rock

31% of Maiden Rock’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
From Maiden Rock’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Maiden Rock’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 Maiden Rock’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Maiden Rock’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story

How Maiden Rock came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Maiden Rock.

Read it all →

The town is named for a cliff (also called "Maiden Rock") just south of the village. In the Winona legend, the daughter of Dakota Sioux chief Red Wing (for whom the nearby town of Red Wing, Minnesota is named) jumped from this cliff after her lover, a member of the rival Chippewa tribe, was killed by Dakota warriors under orders from Red Wing. A plaque still stands near the base of the cliff, memorializing the village's namesake.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Maiden Rock, 1856 to 1995

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856In the archiveMeyers Universum Band 17 42
  3. 1878Born herePaul Nystrom is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1914In the archiveMaiden Rock WI - July 10 1914
  6. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1995In the archiveGreat River Road - Maiden Rock Historical Marker
By decade

Maiden Rock, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1980snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Maiden Rock on the map, 1941 to 1972

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Maiden Rock. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Maiden Rock on the 1941 USGS mapMaiden Rock on the 1972 USGS map1941Arkansaw sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Maiden Rock.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Meyers Universum Band 17 42
Retake this viewMeyers Universum Band 17 42, 1856

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Maiden Rock’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Maiden Rock, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 343

Between 115 and 343 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Maiden Rock’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
NerikeWarrentown
Gone or out of use
Carmichael SchoolschoolCotter Hill SchoolschoolLund SchoolschoolPine Creek Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Maiden Rock
Lund MethodistMaiden Rock

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 Maiden Rock’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.