More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #130 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Most of Eldridge was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Eldridge post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Eldridge’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eldridge is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #130 of 140 in Iowa. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Eldridge’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 Eldridge’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Eldridge’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Jacob M. Eldridge, the city's namesake, arrived in central Scott County in 1846, having purchased land for $1.25 per acre. Immigrants from Germany soon followed, and northern Scott County slowly began to develop. Railroads were developed during the 1860s, bringing more settlers. Eldridge Junction, built on land donated by Jacob Eldridge, was incorporated on July 2, 1871. A post office and a Presbyterian church were soon built.
J. D. McCormick, an enterprising young merchant of Dixon, established a general store in Eldridge, April 20, 1874, where he continued in business until Dec. 8, 1872. While at Eldridge he was township clerk for Sheridan township for five yeirs, and was postmaster there also; and is virtually the postmaster there yet, as no one has been a])pointed in his stead. lie also taught school while at Eldridge, employing a clerk to run the store. In December, 1879, he established a ijeneral store in Di.xon. His business
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History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa1910 · page 321Read the page →
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that place and bought another eighty acres in Lincoln township, upon which he made his home for ten years. Again Mr. Lensch disposed of his land and became the proprietor of a larger tract of two hundred acres in Sheridan township, near the town of Eldridge. There he and his family made their home for the twenty years between 1876 and 1896, but at the end of this time he decided to give up active life and retire to enjoy a greater leisure than the preceding years had permitted him. He was then among Scott county's considerable property holders, owning four hundred acres of splendid land.
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History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa1910 · page 704Read the page →
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public life, he has held to high standards of honorable manhood so that he well deserves the success which has attended his labors and the good will which is universally accorded him. Mr. Murrison has just bought a fine modern home in the village of Eldridge where he expects to move with his family this year (1910), but will still retain the management of his present farm. CHARLES THODT.
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biographical history and portrait gallery of scott county, iowa1895 · page 26Read the page →
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Benjamin Barr, Gilbert Wicks, Captain LeMarinel, C. Meyer, John and Nathan Greer, Moses Farber, Juergen Schmidt, Hans Schmidt, James and Joseph Quinn, Christ Vogt and Peter Blunk. The village of Eldridge was laid out in this Township in 1871, by J. M. Eldridge. The Presbyterians built the first and only church in the Township, in 1874. The youngest of the several subdivisions of Scott County, Sheridan, as well as Lincoln Township, bears the name of a distinguished American whose greatness impressed itself upon the country
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Eldridge, 1871 to 1910
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Eldridge post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Eldridge rank for history?
Eldridge is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #130 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.
How old are the homes in Eldridge?
4% of Eldridge’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 2002.
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), Wikipedia, 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.
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