Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the John R. Wheeler Jr. House and the Dunham, Z. T., Pioneer Stock Farm. Its Register listings are the John R. Wheeler Jr. House and the Dunham, Z. T., Pioneer Stock Farm. Below: old-book passages.
The Dunlap post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dunlap is more historic than 76% 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 Dunlap’s 17.1 sits above most of its state (67% 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 Dunlap’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dunlap.
Dunlap was platted in 1867, and it was incorporated in 1871. The city was named for George L. Dunlap, General Superintendent of the Chicago & North Western railroad.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Dunlap, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In 1869, an old Omaha Chief, named Yellow Smoke, was murdered in cold blood, by white men at Dunlap. He was a common beggar and frequently visited country school houses and made teacher and pupils give him their dinners upon which he might gorge himself. He was also an expert gambler and one night,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ent hank building. He is also President of the Opera House Company, which was formed in 1884, and was also one of the organizers of the Dunlap District Fair Association, of which he still is a director, and was one of the men to help in the in¬ corporation of Dunlap. He is treasurer of the Dunlap Cemetery Association, as well
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Father Dexiker, and at present, religious services are held at this place three Sabbaths of each month, by the priest in charge, viz.: Father Hayes. The present membership is 125. « Dunlap was the next to follow, from the fact that the completion of the railroad to this place, and the establishment of a division of the road ab Dunlap, brought many persons of this religious faith as settlers into the neighborhood and as citizens of the town. Dunlap is perhaps the wealthiest organization of this
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Henry Ohnstead, wlio settled in the springof 1857, at the place where this post office was established, had the office named after himself, but upon the completion of the Northwestern railroad, down the Boyer, this office was discontinued and the mail was sent to Dunlap. The other line established in 1S58, as before mentioned, had its initial point at Magnolia, and ran semi-wheekly toward the west, to De Soto, Washington countv, Nebraska, a distance oi thirty-live miles, and man}" of the settlers remember the carry-all of Mr. Jerome Seeley, who at that
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.
The 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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Dunlap post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Dunlap is more historic than 76% 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 John R. Wheeler Jr. House (listed 1986) and the Dunham, Z. T., Pioneer Stock Farm (1993).
42% of Dunlap’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.5 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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