Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Mount Ida was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listings are the Montgomery County Courthouse and the Mount Ida Cities Service Filling Station. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1920.
The Mount Ida post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1890. Another post office, Montgomery (1848), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Ida is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Arkansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Arkansas town has 20.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Mount Ida’s 14.5 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 Mount Ida’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereLon Warneke is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Mount Ida.
Episode 133, entitled "What's in my Pocket?", of the popular podcast Small Town Murder, hosted by James Pietragallo and Jimmie Whisman, featured Mount Ida on August 22, 2019.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Ida. 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 Mount Ida.
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.
Between 298 and 1,076 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Ida’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Mount Ida’s post office has been open since 1842. Another post office, Montgomery, 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 Mount Ida post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1890.
Mount Ida is more historic than 61% 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.
Two places: the Montgomery County Courthouse (listed 1976) and the Mount Ida Cities Service Filling Station (2001).
8% of Mount Ida’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (12), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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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