Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1900.
The Buffalo Center post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Buffalo Center’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,233 in 1980; 857 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Buffalo Center’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Buffalo Center.
Buffalo Center was platted in 1892, and was incorporated as a city later that same year. In 1996, Buffalo Center officially became the host community of the newly-formed North Iowa Community School.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Buffalo Center, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Rock Island Railroad runs east and west, almost in the exact center of the township, and the town of Buffalo Center is located on this railroad, about a mile from the Kossutli County line. In 1916 the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
On January 18, 1894, a petition was filed asking for the incorporation of the city of Buffalo Center, also claiming a population at the time of 350 people. The petition was signed by the following: J. S. Ulland, M. Jackman, B. A. Pannkuk, L. B. Draper, R, Rowley, E. M.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Buffalo Center. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Buffalo Center.
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.
1915Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Buffalo Center’s post office has been open since 1890.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Buffalo Center post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.
2021
2004