Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Kepper66 · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #22 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
16 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 53 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1860.
The Le Claire post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Parkhurst (1836) and Berlin (1839), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Le Claire is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #22 of 140 in Iowa. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 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 Le Claire’s 144 sits above most of its state (88% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 68 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 Le Claire’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1910, then grew 6-fold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Le Claire’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Le Claire. 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 Le Claire.
From Wikipedia’s history of Le Claire.
The city takes its name from Antoine LeClaire, a Métis trader of First Nations-French Canadian descent, who originally owned the land. Although the city's official name is "LeClaire", it is often spelled "Le Claire", and has also been recorded as "LeClare".
The town was incorporated in 1855, having been settled by European Americans as early as the 1830s.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Le Claire, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Parkhurst was laid out in 1837, and the village of Le Claire (originally called Berlin) was laid out in the same year. For some time they were somewhat hostile rivals, but later were incorporated into one municipality under the name of Le Claire. "The first school was taught in this Township in 1837 by William Cannon, at the home of Philip Suiter, the five children of Mr. Suiter being the pupils in attendance. The Baptist denomination established the first church in Le Claire Township in 1839; other denominations established
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Le Claire the remaining strip of land lying between the two towns of Le Claire and Parkhurst, and laid it out into building lots. This gave a new impetus to buildings of all kinds. Mills and manufactories were erected; mechanics of all kinds settled in the place, and many large brick stores were erected, so that in 1855, on petition of the inhabitants of both towns, the Legislature by act incorporated the city of Le Claire, including within its limits the town of Parkhurst.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Like the town of Parkhurst, the village of Le Claire was of slow growth. Li the Le Claire Republic of March 23, 1859, Edward Russell, now editor of the Gazette, Davenport, thus speaks of his first view of the two towns : " In 1818, when we first visited the locality, Le Claire and Parkhurst were separated by a ' gulf,' which, though easily passed, kept each town entirely separate from the other. A beautitul dense grove of oaks extended from Reynolds street up to Holland street, and no
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
His sister, Mary E. Parkhurst, also a native of Le Qaire, attended school there and afterward engaged successfully in teaching for a number of years at school No. I in Le Claire township, at Princeton and in the town of Le Claire. She came to Davenport in 1880 and was of great assistance to her brother in his business. She also had charge of the Blue Grass, Downey, Lone Tree and Zion Baptist churches as pastor and was also assistant pastor of the Temple Baptist church of Seattle, Washington, from October, 1908, until April, 1909, Rev.
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.
Born hereBuffalo Bill is born here
BuiltHorton-Suiter House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveFMIB 38854 Glimpse of the Mussel Business at Leclaire, Iowa, where the mussels are bought…
In the archiveAm. Forestry Ass'n, the Green tree, LeClaire, Iowa2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
1895Sheet 2 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Le Claire’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Le Claire’s post office has been open since 1847. Two other post offices 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).
The Le Claire post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Le Claire is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #22 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.
16 listings: 15 buildings, among them the Stone School (listed 1977, the first), and 1 historic district, the Cody Road Historic District, with 53 contributing buildings. 68 historic buildings in all.
22% of Le Claire’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.3 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1976.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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