Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1880.
Ogden dates its founding to 1866 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ogden is more historic than 51% 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 Ogden’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: Wikipedia (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 Ogden’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ogden.
Ogden was platted in 1866. The town is named for William B. Ogden, a railroad official and the first Mayor of Chicago. A post office has been in operation at Ogden since 1871. Ogden was incorporated in 1878.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ogden, cut from the printed page as they were published.
S. Parker Clark, a popular and esteemed young citizen of Ogden. has for the past six years been identified with the Ogden State Bank in the capacity of cashier. He is numbered among the worthy native sons of Boone cotinty, his birth having occurred in Ogden in November, 1881. His parents. Dr. Orson and Lucy Emma ( Sylvester ) Clark, took up their abode among the pioneer residents of Boone county in 1869. A sketch of the father appears on another page of this work.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
For some time after Ogden was laid ont the post-office was at Wesley Williams, three miles north of town, and was called Yough Post-Otiice. The office was then removed to Ogden, and retained the old name for a while, wh6n the name was changed to that of the town. When the postoffice was first established at Ogden the salary of the postmaster was $9.00 a year. Wra. Lee was the first postmaster, A. W. Blumberg the second, Charles Soward the third, Hugh Wagers the fourth, Peter Rattray the fifth and J. S. Pitman the sixth and last. The post-office now pays a salary
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
to Boone in 1869, where he remained about four years; he was in Moingona for nine months previous to coining to Ogden in October, 1874, and has since been engaged in the above business, and has been closely identified with the interests of Ogden; he has built up a large trade, and with
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
to Boone county, Iowa, from Wisconsin, purchasing land in Beaver township which he improved and cultivated until 1879. He was then elected county treasurer and filled the office with credit for two years, on the expiration of which period he embarked in the general mercantile business at Ogden, conducting an enterprise of that character for six years. Subsequently he again devoted his attention to farming for a year but at the end of that time returned to Ogden, where he was successfully engaged in the implement business until 1893. In that year he was appointed postmaster under President Cleveland and
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.
In the archiveDallas Center, Casey, DeSoto, Dexter, Ogden, Perry, Shell Rock and Adel, Iowa. (0018.158)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ogden. 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 Ogden.
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 sheet.
1916Sheet 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 Ogden’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 568 and 2,044 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ogden’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Ogden itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Ogden’s post office has been open since 1871. Another post office, Yough, 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).
In 1866, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ogden’s post office opened in 1860, and the census of 1880 counted 568 people here.
Ogden is more historic than 51% 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.
39% of Ogden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1958.
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, 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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