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AHistory
History · Northwood

Northwood’s post office opened in 1857, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 40 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1870.

1857first post office
3on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Northwood’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Northwood began

When was Northwood founded?

1857

The Northwood post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 289 in 18702020 census: 2,072169 years

How historic is Northwood?

A

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Northwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Northwood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Northwood is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Northwood’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194041.7% of homes (±9.0) · typical IA town 21.6% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register3 listings, 42 historic buildings, 206 per 10,000 residents · typical IA town 9.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 86%
NewerOlder

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 Northwood’s 206 sits above most of its state (92% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 42 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% 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 (±9.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Northwood’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Northwood Central Avenue Historic District takes in 40 historic buildings.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1896 to 1916, drew every building in Northwood.Old housesHalf of Northwood’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Northwood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Northwood’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewTopofIowaWelcomeCenter: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

3 listings protect 42 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
42
each building in a district counts
first listed
1981
Worth County Courthouse
Worth County Courthouse, built 1893Northwood Central Avenue Historic DistrictOld Worth County Courthouse
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque2
Italianate2
Queen Anne1
late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Worth County CourthouseRomanesque · Built 1893
Northwood Central Avenue Historic DistrictQueen Anne
All 3 listings
Old Worth County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1981

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Northwood, building by building, 1896–1916

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.

Northwood fire insurance map, 1896, sheet 11896Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Northwood, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Northwood yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Northwood is a city in and the county seat of Worth County, Iowa, United States, along the Shell Rock River. The population was 2,072 at the time of the 2020 census. Northwood is part of the Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,989 to 2,072 (+4%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Northwood, 1857 to 1999

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Northwood post office opens
  3. 1871Born hereMatt Johnson is born here
  4. 1886Born hereGeorge C. Mathews is born here
  5. 1893BuiltWorth County Courthouse is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1956Born hereJane Bloomingdale is born here
  8. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1999In the archiveTopofIowaWelcomeCenter
By decade

Northwood, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
TopofIowaWelcomeCenter1999TopofIowaWelcomeCenter
Date unknown1 to date
Northwood IA (cropped)Date?Northwood IA (cropped)
Today4 recent
Northwood Water Tower2017Northwood Water TowerNorthwood Iowa North East view2017Northwood Iowa North East viewHistoric2010HistoricIAMap-doton-Northwood2004IAMap-doton-Northwood
On the map

Northwood on the map, 1972 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Northwood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Northwood on the 1972 USGS mapNorthwood on the 1985 USGS map1972Northwood sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Northwood.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Northwood IA (cropped)
Retake this viewNorthwood IA (cropped)

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Northwood’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Northwood, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,193

Between 289 and 2,193 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Northwood’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Northwood

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
George C. MathewsAmerican economist · b. 1886
J
Jane BloomingdaleAmerican politician in the state of Iowa · b. 1956
M
Matt JohnsonAmerican politician in North Dakota · b. 1871

Questions about Northwood’s history

What year was Northwood founded?

The Northwood post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Northwood rank for history?

Northwood is more historic than 86% 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.

What is on the National Register in Northwood?

Three places: the Worth County Courthouse (listed 1981), the Northwood Central Avenue Historic District (2006) and the Old Worth County Courthouse (1981).

How old are the homes in Northwood?

42% of Northwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1951.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (3), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.