Founding year: the first Belmond post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1881.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Belmond’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belmond is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belmond’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 Belmond’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1881 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Belmond’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
On October 14, 1966, an F5 tornado ripped apart the community, destroying or damaging about 600 homes and 75 businesses. Six people were killed and large swaths of the town were left in ruins. On June 12, 2013, an EF3 tornado affected the northern sections of town by damaging or destroying several businesses and homes.
Belmond was impacted by major flooding in the June 2008 Midwest floods, along with many other parts of the state of Iowa.
Passages that mention Belmond, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History and business directory of Wright County, State of Iowa1870Read the page →
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In 1864, A. Fisk and S. D. Pierce cast their lot in Pleasant township, the former locating about four miles from the village of Belmond, while the latter on his arrival bought the saw and grist mill on the Iowa, and opened up a splendid farm about half a mile east of the river, and which adjoins the town of Belmond.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions1915Read the page →
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and running southerlw the latter rising in the vicinity of Cr_\'stal lake, situated in the north of the same count)', and llowing southeasterly, making junction with the Iowa river, proper, one and a half miles north of the town of Belmond, which place is partly in Pleasant and partly in Belmond townshii>. \\'right county. The main Iowa then flows south through Belmond township, entering Iowa township at the northwest comer, passes southeast through Blaine and Vernon townships, where it enters Franklin county, a little north of the town of Dows ( formerly Otisville), but there
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions1915Read the page →
Read the text
The first settlers in Belmond tow^nshii) were the same as first locateil at the town of Belmond, and are mentioned in detail in the history ui that place and of Pleasant townshii), to which Belmond township then belongL-d.
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
Belmond, 1856 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Belmond post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1881.
How does Belmond rank for history?
Belmond is more historic than 31% 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.
How old are the homes in Belmond?
14% of Belmond’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (3), 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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