The Hull post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Pattersonville (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 2,384140 years
How historic is Hull?
C
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Hull post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hull’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hull is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hull’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 Hull’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 (±4.9 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 Hull’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settlers in the Hull area arrived in 1872. The city was incorporated on May 15, 1886. Hull was named for John A. T. Hull, a member of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa. It was previously named Pattersonville for John G. Patterson, before changing its name to Winland then finally Hull in the 1880s.
In 1993, The Foreign Candy Company of Hull became the first American firm to import Warheads sour candy.
In 2004, Hull received a $400,000 grant from Vision Iowa to build the Pattersonville Park and Cultural Center. Some of the money was returned in 2011 because the park had not been constructed.
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Hull’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Pattersonville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pattersonville
1878–1886
Hull
1886–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Hulllocale
1cemetery inside Hull
Saint Joseph
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Hull’s history
What year was Hull founded?
The Hull post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hull rank for history?
Hull is more historic than 28% 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.
How old are the homes in Hull?
12% of Hull’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1975.
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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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