Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1880.
The Monona post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Monona is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. 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 Monona’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 Monona’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Monona.
The Monona Post Office was established in 1849 and the city was incorporated May 11, 1897. In 1916, Monona contained a public house, two stores, and several mechanic shops.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Monona. 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 Monona.
Passages that mention Monona, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Monona was platted July, 1851, additions being made to it from time to time. The store and postoffice were established before the town was platted. The boom days of Monona took place when it was the terminus for the McGregor and Western, for the great overland trade naturally stopped at the nearest railroad point As the rails travelled westward Monona became, like other towns, dependent upon its immediate trade territory. This is rich, fertile, and fairly extensive, and Monona has always been a prosperous community.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first meeting of the electors of the district township of Monona, for the purpose of electing school-officers, was held in the village of Monona on the 3d day of May 1858. The whole number of votes cast was eighty-eight, of which H.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
After a district was organized for the village of Monona and adjacent territory, a small school-house was built, during the year 1849, upon a lot south of, and adjoining the lot of the present school-house in the village of Monona.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
removed to Worth County, this State, where he pre-empted a piece of land and remained until October, 1859. Returning to Clayton County, he made his home in the village of Monona until February 25, 1864, when, filled with patriotism and a love for his adopted country, he enlisted in Company L, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, and went into camp at Davenport. One month later he joined
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.
One decade in the archive so far: 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.
1902Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn 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 Monona’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 420 and 1,550 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Monona’s Wikipedia page.
The Monona post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Monona is more historic than 75% 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.
51% of Monona’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 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 (4), 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.
2024
2024
2004