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B−History
History · Blue Grass

Blue Grass’ post office opened in 1840, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1880.

1840first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Blue Grass began

When was Blue Grass founded?

1840

The Blue Grass post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 70 in 18802020 census: 1,666186 years

How historic is Blue Grass?

B−

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Blue Grass post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Blue Grass’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Blue Grass is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Blue Grass’ overall grade.
Founding era1840, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194011.9% of homes (±5.5) · typical IA town 21.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IA town 9.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 49%
NewerOlder

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 Blue Grass’ 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 C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 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 Blue Grass’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Blue Grass are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Blue Grass.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blue Grass’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blue Grass’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Blue Grass, 1840 to 1953

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Post officeThe Blue Grass post office opens
  3. 1898Born hereRalph Claypool is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Blue Grass, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Blue Grass yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Blue Grass is a city in Muscatine and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 1,666 as of 2020. Most of Blue Grass is part of the Davenport–Moline–Rock Island, IA-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area, but the Muscatine County portion of the city is considered part of the Muscatine Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,452 to 1,666 (+15%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Blue Grass, 1895–1910

Passages that mention Blue Grass, cut from the printed page as they were published.

this country. Since his arrival here he has devoted himself continuously to the occupation of farming, first in connection with his father and later on his own account. In 1885 he went to Muscatine county, Iowa, remaining there until 1894, when he located in Blue Grass, Scott county, where he has c…
History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa1910 · page 1022Read the page →
Read the text

this country. Since his arrival here he has devoted himself continuously to the occupation of farming, first in connection with his father and later on his own account. In 1885 he went to Muscatine county, Iowa, remaining there until 1894, when he located in Blue Grass, Scott county, where he has continued to reside to the present time. He owns a little farm near the corporation limits of Blue Grass, in Buffalo township, where he is successfully carrying on general farming, and is also known in financial circles as a stdckholder in the Blue Grass Savings Bank, his connection therewith being an additional source of revenue to

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He moved to Muscatine County and purchased land there in 1864, and continued to reside in that County until 1881, when he moved to the village of Blue Grass, Scott County, and purchased property. Ile now owns the most beautiful home in the town and has retired from active life.
biographical history and portrait gallery of scott county, iowa1895 · page 470Read the page →
Read the text

He moved to Muscatine County and purchased land there in 1864, and continued to reside in that County until 1881, when he moved to the village of Blue Grass, Scott County, and purchased property. Ile now owns the most beautiful home in the town and has retired from active life.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1836 he disposed of his interests in Indiana and emigrated to Scott County and settled in Buffalo Township, where he improved a farm. He resided there until the spring of 1841, when he moved to Blue Grass Township. In 1840 he erected one of the first frame houses in Blue Grass Township. Mr. Camp…
biographical history and portrait gallery of scott county, iowa1895 · page 543Read the page →
Read the text

In 1836 he disposed of his interests in Indiana and emigrated to Scott County and settled in Buffalo Township, where he improved a farm. He resided there until the spring of 1841, when he moved to Blue Grass Township. In 1840 he erected one of the first frame houses in Blue Grass Township. Mr. Campbell was exceedingly fond of hunting and out-

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In a history of Blue Grass it is imperative that mention be made of Henry F. Wunder, its present mayor, who has occupied that office since the incorporation of the town in 1903, and is also serving as the efficient cashier of the Blue Grass.
History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa1910 · page 34Read the page →
Read the text

In a history of Blue Grass it is imperative that mention be made of Henry F. Wunder, its present mayor, who has occupied that office since the incorporation of the town in 1903, and is also serving as the efficient cashier of the Blue Grass.

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.

By decade

Blue Grass, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Blue GrassIowaPopPlot2021Blue GrassIowaPopPlotBlue Grass Presbyterian Church2014Blue Grass Presbyterian ChurchSt. Andrew's Church2012St. Andrew's ChurchBlue Grass, Iowa Community Center2012Blue Grass, Iowa Community CenterIAMap-doton-BlueGrass2004IAMap-doton-BlueGrass
On the map

Blue Grass on the map, 1953 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Blue Grass. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Blue Grass on the 1953 USGS mapBlue Grass on the 1970 USGS mapBlue Grass on the 1991 USGS map1953Walcott sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Blue Grass.

People over time

Blue Grass, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800188019001920194019601980200020201,666

Grew from 70 people in 1880 to 1,666 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Blue Grass’ Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Blue Grass’s post office has been open since 1840.

Gone or out of use
Blue Grasslocale
1cemetery inside Blue Grass
Blue Grass

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Blue Grass’ history

What year was Blue Grass founded?

The Blue Grass post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Blue Grass rank for history?

Blue Grass is more historic than 49% 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 Blue Grass?

12% of Blue Grass’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (5), 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.