Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Durant’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Durant is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Durant’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 Durant’s 10.3 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). Two sources give 1854.
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 →
What stands out about Durant’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Durant was platted in 1854 by Benjamin Brayton. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was built through Durant in 1855. The settlement was first named Brayton for its founder, but the name was later changed to Durant for Thomas C. Durant, one of the pioneers of the Transcontinental Railroad and an individual who contributed the bulk of the funds needed to build the town's first public school.
Passages that mention Durant, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Cedar County, Iowa1878 · page 525Read the page →
Read the text
In December, 1871, a division of the Sons of Temperance was formed and continued for several years, to the great benefit of Durant. MI8CBLLANE0U8. April 2."), 18G7, forty resident legal voters of Durant petitione<i the County Court to appoint Commissioners to call an election for the purpose of voting npon the propriety of incorporating Durant as a town.
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
Durant, 1854 to 1922
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Durant, census by census
Grew from 127 people in 1860 to 1,871 in 2020, more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Durant’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Durant’s post office has been open since 1857.
Gone or out of use
Durantlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Durant’s history
What year was Durant founded?
In 1854, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Durant’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1860 counted 127 people here.
How does Durant rank for history?
Durant is more historic than 65% 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.
What is on the National Register in Durant?
One place: the St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Parish Hall (listed 1985).
How old are the homes in Durant?
26% of Durant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2023
2021
2014
2014
2012
2012
