Red Oak’s post office opened in 1871, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #43 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 73 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1870.
The Red Oak post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Oro (1856) and Red Oak Junction (1858), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,315 in 18702020 census: 5,596155 years
How historic is Red Oak?
A−
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Red Oak post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Red Oak’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Red Oak is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #43 of 140 in Iowa. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Red Oak’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 Red Oak’s 147 sits above most of its state (88% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 81 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% 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 (±6.0 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 Red Oak’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Red Oak, building by building, 1886–1914
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.
Red Oak derives its name from Red Oak Creek which flows through the community and was noted for the red oaks on its banks. The first settlers arrived there in the 1850s. In 1865 it became the official county seat of Montgomery County and the courthouse which had been in the middle of the county seven miles northeast in Frankfort, Iowa was towed to the community during a snow storm. That courthouse remained in place until the current Montgomery County Courthouse was built in 1891. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Red Oak’s post office has been open since 1871. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Oro
1856–1858
Red Oak Junction
1858–1871
Red Oak
1871–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Villa Village Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Pittsburg Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Red Oak
Evergreen
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Red Oak’s history
What year was Red Oak founded?
The Red Oak post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Red Oak rank for history?
Red Oak is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #43 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 Red Oak?
10 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Chautauqua Park (listed 1972, the first), and 1 historic district, the Red Oak Downtown Historic District, with 73 contributing buildings. 81 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Red Oak?
29% of Red Oak’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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.
1908
1908
