Clarinda dates to 1851, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #56 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Col. William Peters Hepburn House, a National Historic Landmark. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Col. William Peters Hepburn House, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1851.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clarinda’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clarinda is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #56 of 140 in Iowa. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clarinda’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 Clarinda’s 11.2 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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 (±6.0 points). Two sources give 1851.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Clarinda’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Clarinda, building by building, 1886–1912
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.
Clarinda was founded in 1851, and incorporated on December 8, 1866. Many stories are told of such notables as Jesse James frequently passing through.
The town is named for Clarinda Buck, who according to legend carried water to the surveyors while Page County was first being surveyed.
The best known national firm in Clarinda for many decades was Berry's Seed Company, a mail order farm seed distribution business founded in 1885 at Clarinda by A. A. Berry. Berry's Seed Company diversified into retail stores in the 1950s, but the stores were sold off over the following decade, and today the company, known as Berry's Garden Center, operates from its one remaining retail outlet in Danville, Illinois.
On the 8th of December, 1866 the county judge issued the following order relative to the above: " The above petition of the qualified voters of the town of Clarinda Page county, Iowa, asking the incorporation of said town, having been presented and filed in my office as the law directs, and the incorporators having complied with all the requirements of the law in such cases made and provided, and having proven before me this day that under the law they are entitled to incorporate ; now, therefore, I, John R. Morledge,
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
Clarinda, 1851 to 1981
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1851, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clarinda’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1860 counted 427 people here.
How does Clarinda rank for history?
Clarinda is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #56 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 Clarinda?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Col. William Peters Hepburn House (a National Historic Landmark since 1976). 6 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Clarinda?
40% of Clarinda’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1960.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
★ Landmark
1908
1908
1908
1908
