Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1920.
The Dundee post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Dundee’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dundee. 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 Dundee.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dundee yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Dundee is a city in Delaware County, Iowa, United States. The population was 198 at the time of the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 174 to 198 (+14%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Dundee, cut from the printed page as they were published.
DUNDEE Dundee is a small station on the Chicago Great Western Railroad, situate on section 27, ju.st south of the old Village of Forestville. It came into existence a short time before the jiostofficc was established, which was in 1887. There is now a population of about one hundred. The town has a general store, a bank and shojjs. H. D. Wood was connaissioned postmaster. Jainiary 14. 1887.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
$29,125 ; personalty, $2,135 ; money and credits, $5,000 ; total, $37,260. Pleasant Hill, land, $27,421; railroads, $12,316; personalty. $2,914; jnoney and credits, $1,000; total, $43,651. Harris, land. $46,263; railroads, $16,572; personalty, $4,126; money and credits, $3,500; total, $70,471. Dundee, land, $61,493; railroads, $25,824; lots, $9,212; personalty. $12,413; money and credits. $17,500; total. $36,442. Hopkinton, land, $31,616; railroads, $16,264; lots, $98,323; personalty, $36,747; money and credits, $156,902; total, $339,852. Ryan, land, $80,581; railroad, $10,310; lots. $21,844; personalty, $27,409; money and credits',
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.
Between 164 and 198 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dundee’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Dundee itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Dundee’s post office has been open since 1887.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Dundee post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
2021
2004
