Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #119 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Most of Huxley was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 1910.
The Huxley post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.
Huxley was named after Thomas Henry Huxley, a British biologist.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Huxley is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #119 of 140 in Iowa. 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 Huxley’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.
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 →
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 Huxley’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Huxley.
Huxley was incorporated on August 27, 1902. It was named after Thomas Henry Huxley, a British biologist. It is known for its city wide kickball tournament on July 10 every year.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Huxley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the contrary, the earlier settlements were made from different directions and particularly northeast, and were in the first instance very shghtly related to each other. The very first settlers moved from Des Moines northward into Palestine Township, near the present village of Huxley, but they were not immediately followed by others coming from the same locality and moving in the same direction. The ne.xt settler was one who moved northwestward from Newton until he found a favorable place to build his cabin, which he supposed he was locating in Jasper County, but afterwards found
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
neither does Maxwell nor Cambridge, nor Roland. Slater had then little more than a beginning; Collins, Zearing, McCallsburg, were very new towns ; Colo was older than some of these, but not nearly so good a town as it is now, and the same is true of Gilbert Station. Huxley had hardly found a place upon the map. Kelley has made considerable improvement, and Iowa Center has survived conditions which have destroyed many another town, when the railroad came close without hitting it. In all of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books 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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Huxley. 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 Huxley.
Grew from 336 people in 1910 to 4,244 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Huxley’s Wikipedia page.
Huxley’s post office has been open since 1882.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Huxley post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Huxley is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #119 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.
9% of Huxley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 2000.
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 (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 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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