Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listings are the Alden Public Library and the Alden Bridge. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1880.
The Alden post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name.
Alden was named for its founder, Henry Alden, a native of Massachusetts.
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 Alden’s history is told.
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.
1896Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Alden.
Alden was laid out in 1855. It was named for its founder, Henry Alden, a native of Massachusetts. The town was incorporated February 11, 1879.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Alden, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first settlement on the present site of the village of Alden was made by Henry Alden, who, in oompany with Sumner Kemp, came here from Massachusetts, June, 1854, driving through from Naperville, Illinois, with an ox team, crossing the Mississippi river at Dubuque, and thenoe to the Cedar river. Striking that
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The old town of Alden was laid out by Henry Alden, in 1855. This was afterwards known as Upper Town.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereGordon Jones is born here
BuiltAlden Public Library is built
BuiltAlden Bridge is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alden.
1984Iowa Falls sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alden.
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 495 and 953 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Alden’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Alden’s post office has been open since 1855.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Alden post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Two places: the Alden Public Library (listed 1981) and the Alden Bridge (1998).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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