Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Harrison County Courthouse and the State Savings Bank. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1913 on and old-book passages.
The Logan post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name.
Logan was named for John A. Logan, a Union Army general.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Logan is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls 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 Logan’s 14.4 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 Logan’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Logan.
Logan was platted in 1867 when Chicago and North Western Railway was extended to that point. It was named for John A. Logan, a Union Army general.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Logan, cut from the printed page as they were published.
and Orville Brainard, which service was continued up to and until a postoffice was established at Logan, which was in the fall of 1867. And here let it be remembered that the railroads, with all their boasted magnanimity, passed and repassed the town of Logan for nearly one year from the time of the first trip, before any mails were given off for the accommodation of the citizens of the community. Not until there were orders from the postal department of a peremptory character, did
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He was also one of the principal attor¬ neys for the town of Logan in the county seat contest between that town and Mis¬ souri Valley during the year 1874. He also appeared as attorney for Harrison County in both the District and Supreme Courts in the case against the Blair Bridge Company, wherein the Bridge
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1874 The Harrison County Courier was started at Magnolia and remained at that place until the month of September, 1875, at which time the magnetic influence of Logan cash drew this paper to Logan and it fell in with the "powers," advocating the interest of Logan as a coutity seat point. It is peculiarly curious that Magnolia can heap all her deprecations on one individual as to the change of the county seat and not stop long enough to glance at the real causes of such removal. Davison,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Logan was not made the seat of justice for Harrison count}' until 1875, Magnolia being the former county nat. Its population in 1890 was eight hundred and twenty-seven; in J900 it had one thousand three hundred and seventy-seven, and in 1910 it was one thousand four hundred and fifty-three.
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 hereHal McKain is born here
In the archiveLogan Township, Winnebago County, Iowa, 1913
In the archiveFirst National Bank, 7th Street & 4th Avenue2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Logan’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.
The Logan post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Logan is more historic than 77% 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.
Two places: the Harrison County Courthouse (listed 1981) and the State Savings Bank (1985).
63% of Logan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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