5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 51 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1870.
The Belle Plaine post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gwinville (1856), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,488 in 18702020 census: 2,330164 years
How historic is Belle Plaine?
A
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Belle Plaine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Belle Plaine’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belle Plaine is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belle Plaine’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 Belle Plaine’s 227 sits above most of its state (94% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 54 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 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 Belle Plaine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Belle Plaine was founded in 1862 when it was certain the railroad would be extended to that point. It was surveyed in March 1862 by George F. Kirby for its proprietor, John I Blair who platted it and filed the plat for record on 12 May 1862. (The date and surveyor were identical for Blairstown.) "Belle Plaine" is derived from the French meaning "beautiful plain".
Belle Plaine is located on both the historic Lincoln Highway and the cross country tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Dayid M. Johnson is the younger of these two survi ving sons, and leaving his parents home when nineteen years of age he eame to Iowa, arriving in the city of Belle Plaine in 1865. For a time he worked on a farm in Homer township, but in the spring of 1866 returned to Belle Plaine and secured employment as a fireman with the Northwestern Railroad Company for one year.. In 1869 he bought a farm in Llomer township. The land was in its natural state, raw and unimproved, and he improved it and farmed there
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The early boyhood of Mr. Blossom was spent on the home farm near Belle Plaine, and he obtained his education at’ that place and the aeademy at Blairstown. After leavine the latter he spent a short time at home, and then (in 1882, when eighteen years of age) secured a position as bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Belle Plaine. Holding that position for ten months, he went to Iubbard, Iowa, and for three years filled a simulir position in the bank of that city. In 1885 he established the Bank of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Benton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics ..1878 · page 446Read the page →
Read the text
Belle Plaine was incorporated in 1868, and took its charter as a city of the second class. A bank was established in July, 1869, by S. L. Bardwell, of Chicago, a much needed adjunct to the business of the young city.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Benton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics ..1878 · page 520Read the page →
Read the text
resided in Vinton until 1865, when they moved to this Tp., on their farm, which is only one-fourth of a mile from the city of Belle Plaine. Wonderlich, E. A., far. ; P. 0. Irving. Woods, H. D., blacksmith. Belle Plaine.
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.
Timeline
Belle Plaine, 1856 to 1968
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Belle Plaine’s post office has been open since 1862. Another post office, Gwinville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Gwinville
1856–1862
Belle Plaine
1862–today
18501940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Belle Plaine’s history
What year was Belle Plaine founded?
The Belle Plaine post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Belle Plaine rank for history?
Belle Plaine is more historic than 87% 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.
What is on the National Register in Belle Plaine?
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Sankot Motor Company (listed 1995, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Belle Plaine Main Street Historic District and the Preston’s Station Historic District, with 51 contributing buildings. 54 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Belle Plaine?
47% of Belle Plaine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1945.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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 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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