More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #125 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Most of Carlisle was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Carlisle’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carlisle is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #125 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 Carlisle’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 Carlisle’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). Two sources give 1851.
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 Carlisle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Jeremiah "Uncle Jerry" Church was an early settler in Iowa, who arrived in Fort Des Moines in the summer of 1845.
He laid out a new town in Polk County, just north of the border with Warren, in the winter of 1845 that he named Dudley.
This was his second attempt at platting the town, the first attempt he had named Liberty and abandoned because the place that he had chosen turned out to be school land.
The tale goes that he staked his claim of Dudley at midnight on 1845-10-11 by the light of some burning Native American dwellings that he had set on fire.
Passages that mention Carlisle, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Warren County, Iowa1879 · page 293Read the page →
Read the text
Carlisle was laid out in 1851 by Jerry Church and Daniel Moore. Mr. Church had laid out a town about two miles northeast of Carlisle, in Polk county, and when the floods of 1851 came (for that year was noted for floods) Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Warren County, Iowa1879 · page 873Read the page →
Read the text
farm west of Hartford. Here he received a good common school education, wiiich was supplemented by a course in the Iowa Business College at Des Moines. On starting out in life he followed the occupation of farming for one year, after which he engaged in railroad work at Carlisle, where he remained for one year, when in 1896 he accepted a position with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad as station agent at Ford, where he has since remained continuously. Mr. Ray now has a half interest in a farm of two hundred and fifty-one acres in the home place, upon which he has placed many
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
Carlisle, 1850 to 1954
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Carlisle’s post office has been open since 1852. Another post office, Dudley, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Dudley
1850–1852
Carlisle
1852–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Western Acres Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Carlisle
Carlisle
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Carlisle’s history
What year was Carlisle founded?
In 1851, according to Wikidata. Carlisle’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1860 counted 138 people here.
How does Carlisle rank for history?
Carlisle is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #125 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 Carlisle?
6% of Carlisle’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 1975.
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), the Library of Congress (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 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.
Date?
2025
2025
2025
2021
2004
