Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Camanche’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Camanche is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #80 of 140 in Iowa. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Camanche’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 Camanche’s 2.2 sits near the middle of its state (38% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). Two sources give 1818.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Camanche’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A post office has been in operation in Camanche since 1837. The community was named after the Comanche Native American tribe.
On Sunday, June 3, 1860, an F4 tornado struck Camanche. Few buildings were left standing, and all structures were badly damaged. The storm moved at 50 mph. The lack of an organized way to report weather events left people living along the Mississippi River vulnerable. A raft carrying 26 men was hit outside Camanche, and only three on board survived. The tornado killed a total of 92 people, including at least 41 in Camanche. The outbreak as a whole killed more than 140 people in just a few hours and injured over 300.
Passages that mention Camanche, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Clinton county history, written for the children of Clinton County1930Read the page →
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The first church services were held in what was called the Jones school house, then Camanche township but now in district 1, Eden township. In 1858 a class was organized and so this is the date for the now active Methodist Episcopal Church in Low Moor. When the railroad was opened and it was decided to have meetings in a more central point, services were held in the depot until the school house was erected in 1867 and then this was used until the church was erected in 1869.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Clinton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns &c., biographical sketches of citizens1879 · page 355Read the page →
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No. 7 was a Territorial road from Camanche to Iowa City. This appears tO' be the same road as No. 1, from Camanche to Iowa City, while the Davenport and Dubuque road (No. 2) was the continuation of No. 1, from Camanche northward. This road terminated in this county at the Wapsipinicon, in Township 80, Range 2 east, in what is now Olive Township, at Alger's Ferry, running through Camanche, Eden, De Witt, Orange and Olive.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Clinton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns &c., biographical sketches of citizens1879 · page 345Read the page →
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county are said to have been paid for, had his " mint " in a log house situated in Riverside, below where Davis's lime-kiln now stands. Near where the present railroad bridge now reaches the shore, there was a bridge across the slough on the road between Lyons and Camanche. Another bridge crossed Mill Creek near the present site of the Mill Creek bridge. From each of the bridges a wire was extended to the "mint," so arranged that any one passing over would ring a bell at the house, upon which labor was suspended, tools carefully laid aside, and the artisans at once became agricul-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Wolfe's history of Clinton County, Iowa1911 · page 294Read the page →
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In 185 1, the hobby of the city of Camanche was the much-talked-of Camanche & Council Bluffs railroad, the same to be an extension of the famous "Dixon Air Line" route. Lyons also wanted a hand in the great enterprise and Fulton likewise sought her share, too, hence the war was a merry and spirited one. The amount wanted to secure the road at Camanche was two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Of this amount one hundred and fifty thousand dollars was subscribed. Men went wild over the scheme and even signed away all they possessed, believing that with a railroad they
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
Camanche, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
In 1818, according to Wikidata. Camanche’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1870 counted 840 people here.
How does Camanche rank for history?
Camanche is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #80 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.
What is on the National Register in Camanche?
One place: the Horace Anthony House (listed 1991).
How old are the homes in Camanche?
13% of Camanche’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (1), 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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