Pella’s post office opened in 1847, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #40 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
20 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 48 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1883 on, and the census since 1860.
The Pella post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lake Prairie (1845), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,644 in 18602020 census: 10,464179 years
How historic is Pella?
A−
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Pella post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pella’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pella is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #40 of 140 in Iowa. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pella’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 Pella’s 65.3 sits above most of its state (78% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 70 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 (±3.0 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 Pella’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1847, 800 Dutch immigrants led by Dominee (Minister) Hendrik "Henry" P. Scholte settled the area known as Pella. The name "Pella" is a reference to Pella of the Decapolis, where the Christians of Jerusalem had found refuge during the Roman–Jewish war of 70; the name was selected because the Dominee and his followers sought religious freedom as well. The pioneer years are evoked in a biography of the Dominee's widow, Mareah Scholte, published by her granddaughter in 1939. Pella was the childhood home of Wyatt Earp, whose father Nicholas Porter Earp had settled on a farm near Pella. His brothers Warren and Morgan were born in Pella.
Passages that mention Pella, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Souvenir history of Pella, Iowa1922 · page 93Read the page →
Read the text
Historical Incidents and Arrivals From Holland 1854-1857 At a called election held June 27, 1855, for the purpose of deciding on the question of incorporating the city of Pella, the result was as follows: For, 135; against, 22. Thereupon the county judge set the 9th day of July, 1855, as the time when an election should be held to elect a commission of three men to draw up a charter (articles of incorporation) of the city of Pella. The election was held with the following results: H. C. Huntsman received 72 votes.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Souvenir history of Pella, Iowa1922 · page 155Read the page →
Read the text
housed them for a few weeks until he could locate himself a place for a home. He soon purchased a large tract of land adjoining what was then laid out as the town of Pella, on the south side. Later he laid out that part of Pella south of University street and west of East Third street, and known as the De Haan Addition, and containing what is known as the South Pella Square, which he do¬
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Marion County, Iowa, and its people1915 · page 281Read the page →
Read the text
county, the Baptists were the first to organize a regular church society. Rev. M. J. Post organized what was known as the Aurora Missionary Baptist Church at the house of Israel Curtis, five miles south of Pella, in December, 1844. In April, 1854, the congregation voted to remove to the town of Pella, chiefly because the Baptist convention had a short time previously decided to establish Central College at that point. The present church building, a substantial brick edifice located on Independence Street, between Main 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.
Timeline
Pella, 1845 to 1976
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pella. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1910Pella sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pella.
Every building
Pella, building by building, 1883–1911
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.
1883Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this viewBirds eye view of Pella, Marion County, Iowa, 1869, 1869
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Pella’s page.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Pella’s post office has been open since 1847. Another post office, Lake Prairie, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Lake Prairie
1845–1847
Pella
1847–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Sunrise Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Vermeer Landing Fieldairport
1cemetery inside Pella
Oak Wood
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Pella’s history
What year was Pella founded?
The Pella post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pella rank for history?
Pella is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #40 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 Pella?
20 listings: 18 buildings, among them the Dirk Van Loon House (listed 1977, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Collegiate Neighborhood Historic District and the Gary J. and Matilda Vermeer Farmstead, with 48 contributing buildings. 70 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Pella?
14% of Pella’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (20), 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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