Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elk Run Heights is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Elk Run Heights’ 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.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Elk Run Heights’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elk Run Heights yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Elk Run Heights is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,069 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Waterloo–Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,117 to 1,069 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elk Run Heights. 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 Elk Run Heights.
Between 1,052 and 1,186 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elk Run Heights’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Elk Run Heights itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Elk Run Heights is more historic than 19% 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.
7% of Elk Run Heights’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2021
2011
2004