Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #11 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
17 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 104 buildings between them. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
Decorah dates its founding to 1849 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Decorah is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #11 of 140 in Iowa. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Decorah’s 159 sits above most of its state (90% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 120 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Decorah. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Decorah.
From Wikipedia’s history of Decorah.
Decorah was the site of a Ho-Chunk village beginning circa 1840. Several Ho-Chunks had settled along the Upper Iowa River that year when the U.S. Army forced them to remove from Wisconsin. In 1848, the United States removed the Ho-Chunks again to a new reservation in Minnesota, opening their Iowa villages to white settlers.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Decorah, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Acles Haven Fannon was born in Wythe County, Virginia, April 17, 1800. He settled at Freeport, Winneshiek County, in 1850, and laid out the town, and for several years engaged in tavern-keeping. He was the first mail contractor to carry the mails to Decorah. He contracted to carry the mails from Hardin to Decorah, from Decorah to Fort Atkinson, and from Lansing to Decorah. He was elected Coroner in 1875- At an election held in Winneshiek County on the ist of August, 1853,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
four thousand, and were scattered over their reservation, or what was then called " the neutral ground." Four bands were located near the Fort and Agency. The other bands were located more remote. Where the city of Decorah now stands was a large band under the government of the hereditary chief Decorah ; hence the name. This country was at that time an Indian paradise, abounding in fish and game.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveDecorah, Winneshiek County, Iowa 1870
Born hereRudolph Martin Anderson is born here
Born hereOswald Veblen is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveDecorah Iowa panoramic view
In the archiveLuther College
Born hereWilliam Foege is born hereBuiltDecorah Ice Cave is built
In the archiveLuther College
Born hereRob Sand is born here4 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
1885Sheet 2 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Decorah’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,920 and 8,172 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Decorah’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Decorah’s post office has been open since 1851.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1849, according to Wikidata. Decorah’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1860 counted 1,920 people here.
Decorah is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #11 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.
17 listings: 11 buildings, among them the Painter-Bernatz Mill (listed 1974, the first), 3 historic districts, the Decorah Commercial Historic District, the Broadway-Phelps Park Historic District and the Luther College Campus Historic District, with 104 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 2 structures. 120 historic buildings in all.
33% of Decorah’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (17), 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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