Founding year: the first Cascade post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Cascade’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cascade is more historic than 71% 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 Cascade’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 Cascade’s 4.2 sits near the middle of its state (43% 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 A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 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 Cascade’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cascade yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Cascade is a city in Dubuque and Jones counties, Iowa, United States. The Dubuque County portion is part of Dubuque metropolitan area, while the Jones County section is part of Cedar Rapids metropolitan area. The population was 2,386 at the 2020 census, up from 1,958 in 2000. The city is located within southwestern of Dubuque County and north-central Jones County. Arguably the town's most notable historic event was the 1925 flood. Between 1880 and 1936, the town was connected to Bellevue via the Chicago, St. Paul & Milwaukee Railroad Company. It was Iowa's last narrow gauge railroad with a gauge of 3'. The roadbed curves and grades were considered too extreme for conversion to standard gaug…
Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,159 to 2,386 (+11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Cascade in 1911
Passages that mention Cascade, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Dubuque County, Iowa1911 · page 788Read the page →
Read the text
after his marriage rented a tract of land in Cascade Township and here followed general farming for a number of years. He then purchased ten acres of timber land which he cleared and on which he erected a home, and at different times added thereto until he became the owner of seventy acres. This he improved and resided on until his retirement to the village of Cascade in 1910. Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Dubuque County, Iowa1911 · page 539Read the page →
Read the text
work of the home place. Having purchased land on section 25 adjoining that of his father, he continued to reside there, engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1899, when he moved to the village of Cascade. Here he and his sister, Julia, now make their home. In political views Mr. Craft is independent, believing that the best interests of the country can be conserved by voting for men and measures regardless of the name of party. He has served as justice of the peace, and for twenty-seven years has been a member of the
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.
The Cascade post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cascade rank for history?
Cascade is more historic than 71% 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.
What is on the National Register in Cascade?
One place: the Sauser-Lane House (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Cascade?
18% of Cascade’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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