Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #38 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Emmetsburg Public Library and the Ormsby-Kelly House. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1870.
Emmetsburg dates its founding to 1845 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Emmetsburg is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #38 of 140 in Iowa. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Emmetsburg’s 5.5 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Emmetsburg’s history is told.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions 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.
Born hereCurt Pringle is born here
Born herePaul Emerick is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Emmetsburg.
The town was originally settled by immigrants during the Great Famine of Ireland between 1845 and 1852. Emmetsburg was named after the Dublin-born Irish nationalist Robert Emmet, who was executed at 25 for leading an 1803 rebellion against the British. The city was incorporated on November 17, 1877.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Emmetsburg.
1980Emmetsburg sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Emmetsburg.
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.
Between 44 and 4,621 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Emmetsburg’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Emmetsburg’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Emmittsburgh, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1845, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Emmetsburg’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1870 counted 44 people here.
Emmetsburg is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #38 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.
Two places: the Emmetsburg Public Library (listed 1983) and the Ormsby-Kelly House (1977).
31% of Emmetsburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1960.
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, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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