Nevada dates to 1853, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #53 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 57 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Nevada’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nevada is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #53 of 140 in Iowa. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nevada’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 Nevada’s 83.1 sits above most of its state (81% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 58 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). Two sources give 1853.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Nevada’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Nevada, building by building, 1886–1926
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.
Nevada was platted in 1853 along the banks of the West Indian Creek. A local settler, Mr. Thrift, named the town after his daughter, Sierra Nevada, who was named after the Sierra Nevada mountain range. On October 11, 1853, Theodore E. and Hannah Alderman moved into the first structure in Nevada. This structure served as Pioneer Store, post office, and courtroom. Their son Ulysses Sherman Alderman later served on the Iowa House of Representatives. A post office has been in operation in Nevada since 1854.
had just had a war with Marietta over the county seat) then Marietta, both small villages at that time, and on to Clemens' Grove. From Clemens' Grove there was not a house until we got to Indian Creek in Story County where a family lived named Pool. From Pool's place to Nevada there were two houses, from Nevada to where father and the rest of the family were was ten miles, and not a house after we got out of Nevada. Nevada was all on the south side of town near where the park is now, excepting the Court House. From Nevada it was ten miles to where we stopped.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
over the county, regardless of the extent of their town plats, were still, and for a long time afterwards, without municipal incorporations. Indeed, it was not until 1867 that Nevada was set off as an independent school district, nor did its incorporation come until 1868. Ames was not on the map until after the war was over and the railroad had come and its incorporation did not occur until 1869. The other towns of the county continued to be villages in a legal sense until long afterwards ; that is, they were portions of territory, subdivided into lots and showing streets and alleys, but not having municipal
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.
Timeline
Nevada, 1853 to 1975
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1853, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Nevada’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1860 counted 350 people here.
How does Nevada rank for history?
Nevada is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #53 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.
What is on the National Register in Nevada?
Three places: the Edwards-Swayze House (listed 1978), the Briggs Terrace (1998) and the Elkader Downtown Historic District (2012).
How old are the homes in Nevada?
25% of Nevada’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (16), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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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