More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #126 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Most of Bondurant was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2011. Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Bondurant post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bondurant’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bondurant is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #126 of 140 in Iowa. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bondurant’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 Bondurant’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 (±3.1 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 Bondurant’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Bondurant was founded in 1884. In 1892, the Chicago Great Western Railway built the Bondurant railway station. Bondurant incorporated as a city on December 23, 1897. The city was named for Alexander C. Bondurant, who was the area's first settler in 1857.
On July 19, 2018, at approximately 3 p.m., an EF2 tornado struck the city and lifted the entire second floor off a house, save for the second-floor bathroom's toilet. The tornado was the second of two EF2 tornadoes that were on the ground simultaneously. The first tornado, which missed Bondurant, provided a clear warning as the second tornado formed shortly afterwards.
The Bondurant post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bondurant rank for history?
Bondurant is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #126 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.
How old are the homes in Bondurant?
5% of Bondurant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 2011.
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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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