Codes for the Identification of Cities, Townships and Unorganized Territories (CTUs) in Minnesota

The Minnesota CTU Database is the state's repository for names and unique IDs for cities, townships and Census-defined unorganized territories in Minnesota. From this website you can:

  1. Search the database (see below).
  2. Download the entire database. File is Comma Separated Values (CSV) format which can be opened by spreadsheet programs.
  3. Integrate a web service API into remote applications without having to store the data locally.
  4. Download a shapefile of statewide CTU boundaries (updated 2/8/12)
Search

You may search 'Feature name' by substring.  For example, "Paul" finds both "Saint Paul" and "Spaulding"

Feature NameFeature Name
Official name of the place. Featur name - documentation Field name: FEATURE_NAME
Display name: Featur name
Description: Official name of the place.

CTU TypeCTU Type
Class of subdivision Ct type - documentation Field name: CTU_TYPE
Display name: Ct type
Description: Class of subdivision
Active or HistoricalActive or Historical
Indicates that this CTU is either currently a valid entity or that it has been superseded and is being retained in the database for its historical reference Activ o historical - documentation Field name: ACTIVE_OR_HISTORICAL
Display name: Activ o historical
Description: Indicates that this CTU is either currently a valid entity or that it has been superseded and is being retained in the database for its historical reference
County NameCounty Name
Name of the county in which the feature is located Count name - documentation Field name: COUNTY_NAME
Display name: Count name
Description: Name of the county in which the feature is located

What is in this database?

The Minnesota CTU Database is a subset of the federal Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database. It contains all Minnesota entries for cities, townships and Census-defined unorganized territories, both active and historical.

Click here to see a complete description of the Minnesota CTU Database.

This system is integrated with the Office of Administrative Hearings Municipal Boundary Adjustment database. When a new city or township comes into existence, or when an existing city, township or unorganized territory becomes historical, that change is formally registered and reported to the U.S. Geological Survey for inclusion in the GNIS. This process results in the timely creation of a new updated CTU code.  The unique ID for each entry in the database complies with Minnesota’s state CTU standard and ANSI INCITS 446-2008.


Please report any errors to: clearing.house@state.mn.us.