Its Register listings are the Charles Wolf House, the Netcott-Pfeiffer House and the Renke and Wubke Renken House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Parkersburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1874.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Parkersburg’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Parkersburg is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Parkersburg’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 Parkersburg’s 17.0 sits above most of its state (67% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1874 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Parkersburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The first known settlers of the Parkersburg area were John Connell and his son William, who built a log cabin in 1857. A railroad company surveyed the area in the early 1860s. A depot was erected in 1865 and two railroads, the Illinois Central and the Chicago North Western, were built through the town. The town was soon platted and recorded and given the name of "Parkersburg" in honor of Pascal P. Parker, a prominent settler and the town's first postmaster. The first major business was a hotel built by Thomas Williams, called The Williams House. Later, it became known as the Commercial House. Parkersburg was incorporated on December 7, 1874.
Passages that mention Parkersburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Butler County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement1914 · page 217Read the page →
Read the text
In making its prelimiuarj^ survey in the early '60s, the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company had overlooked the importance of the coming town of Parkersburg and while New Hartford and Aplingtou had been considered, the line was so iim to those points as to leave Parkersburg "out in the cold." But the builders of the road changed their plans, to the lasting benefit of Parkersburg; made of it a station and, in 1866, together with Augaistus S. Smith, caused two hiuidred and forty acres to.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Butler County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement1914 · page 228Read the page →
Read the text
CHANGE IK CIECUIT About this time, Oct. 13, 1866, it was planned to have the New Hartford circuit include Parkersburg as one of the regular preaching places. They had Methodist preaching once in four weeks. This plan was contimied in the Illinois Central railroad depot and in the schoolhouse until tlie church was built in 1870. Rev.
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
Parkersburg, 1855 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Parkersburg post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1874.
How does Parkersburg rank for history?
Parkersburg is more historic than 60% 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 Parkersburg?
Three places: the Charles Wolf House (listed 1979), the Netcott-Pfeiffer House (2007) and the Renke and Wubke Renken House (2014).
How old are the homes in Parkersburg?
18% of Parkersburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (9), 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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