Albia’s post office opened in 1848, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #8 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 66 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
The Albia post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Clarksville (1846) and Monroe Centre (1847), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 620 in 18602020 census: 3,721178 years
How historic is Albia?
A+
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Albia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Albia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Albia is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #8 of 140 in Iowa. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Albia’s overall grade.
Iowa towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Iowa town has 9.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Albia’s 202 sits above most of its state (92% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 74 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Albia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Albia, building by building, 1886–1922
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Albia was incorporated as a town in 1856. The town was named after Albia, New York, the former home of an early settler.
On Feb. 14, 1893, there was a coal mine explosion in the Chicago and Iowa mine, about 2.5 miles west of Albia. This room and pillar mine had opened around 1877. By the time of the explosion, mining extended more than 1,000 yards from the hoisting shaft, and the mine employed 60 miners and 20 other men. One miner was killed outright and seven died later of their injuries, after a "shot" (gunpowder charge used to bring down the coal) ignited a dust explosion in the mine. This was one of only two major mine disasters in Iowa between 1888 and 1913.
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.
Albia’s post office has been open since 1848. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Clarksville
1846–1847
Monroe Centre
1847–1848
Albia
1848–today
18401930today
1cemetery inside Albia
Oakview
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Albia’s history
What year was Albia founded?
The Albia post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Albia rank for history?
Albia is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #8 of 140 in Iowa. 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.
What is on the National Register in Albia?
8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Monroe County Courthouse (listed 1981, the first), and 1 historic district, the Albia Square and Central Commercial Historic District, with 66 contributing buildings. 74 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Albia?
37% of Albia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1910
