Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the W. H. Tedford House and the Hotel Rea. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1982 on, and the census since 1860.
The Corydon post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1867.
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Corydon is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Corydon’s 12.3 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Corydon’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Corydon.
The town was laid out and platted in 1851 and later that year designated as the county seat. The town was named by county judge Seth Anderson after his old hometown of Corydon, Indiana.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltW. H. Tedford House is built
Born hereEd Davis is born here
In the archiveThe Ocobock Bank bldg
Born hereKathryn Marlowe is born here
In the archiveMrs. Hiram K. Evans (The Woman Citizen, 1918)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Corydon.
1982Corydon sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Corydon.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Corydon’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 254 and 1,872 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Corydon’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Corydon post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1867.
Corydon is more historic than 73% 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.
Two places: the W. H. Tedford House (listed 1979) and the Hotel Rea (2020).
39% of Corydon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1958.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1908
2012
2004