Its Register listing is the Samuel D. Butters House. Its Register listing is the Samuel D. Butters House. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1855.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Prairie City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Prairie City is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Prairie City’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 Prairie City’s 5.8 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). Two sources give 1856.
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 Prairie City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Prairie City was founded by James Elliott in 1856, for whom it was originally named; it was later changed because there was already a town named Elliott in the state. The first resident was William Means, who built a tavern 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Elliot's cabin. The railroad first came through Prairie City in 1866. The first school in Prairie City was built on 1868(The Plainsmen); the city's district remained independent until a merger with that of Monroe in 1990, brought about by the destruction by fire of Monroe's high school. The new school district is called Prairie City-Monroe ("PCM") Community School district, home of the PCM Mustangs.
In 1856, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Prairie City’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1880 counted 591 people here.
How does Prairie City rank for history?
Prairie City is more historic than 59% 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 Prairie City?
One place: the Samuel D. Butters House (listed 2026).
How old are the homes in Prairie City?
25% of Prairie City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1971.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.
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