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History · Hopkinton

Hopkinton’s post office opened in 1852, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings.

1852first post office
1on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
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Photo: RifeIdeas · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Hopkinton began

When was Hopkinton founded?

1852

The Hopkinton post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1874.

2020 census: 622174 years
Founding year: the first Hopkinton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1874.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hopkinton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hopkinton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Hopkinton’s homes were built before 1944.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hopkinton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hopkinton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hopkinton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hopkinton.

Read it all →

Hopkinton was laid out in 1850, and it was incorporated in 1874.

The city is the former home of Lenox College, a small school that closed in 1944. The old campus is still maintained as Delaware County Historical Museum Complex.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hopkinton, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Welcome Sign2010Welcome SignHopkinton, Iowa Municipal Utilities pic taken June 20112010Hopkinton, Iowa Municipal Utilities pic taken June 20…Hopkinton, Iowa Modern City Hall pic taken June 20112010Hopkinton, Iowa Modern City Hall pic taken June 2011Hopkinton, Iowa Historic City Hall pic taken June 20112010Hopkinton, Iowa Historic City Hall pic taken June 2011The Tony Dunlap Farm2006The Tony Dunlap FarmIAMap-doton-Hopkinton2004IAMap-doton-Hopkinton
On the National Register

1 listing protects 4 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Old Lenox College
Old Lenox College, built 1859
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Italianate1
Vernacular Victorian1
Romanesque Revival1
All 1 listings
Old Lenox CollegeDistrict · listed 1974

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Hopkinton’s post office has been open since 1852.

Gone or out of use
Hopkintonlocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Hopkinton’s history

What year was Hopkinton founded?

The Hopkinton post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1874.

What is on the National Register in Hopkinton?

One place: the Old Lenox College (listed 1974).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.