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B−History
History · Reinbeck

Reinbeck’s post office opened in 1872, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1917 on.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Reinbeck’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Reinbeck began

When was Reinbeck founded?

1872

The Reinbeck post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,662154 years

How historic is Reinbeck?

B−

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Reinbeck post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Reinbeck’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Reinbeck is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Reinbeck’s overall grade.
Founding era1872, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194036.9% of homes (±4.1) · typical IA town 21.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IA town 9.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 50%
NewerOlder

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 Reinbeck’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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 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 Reinbeck’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Reinbeck’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · The story so far

Reinbeck, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Reinbeck yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Reinbeck is a city in Grundy County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,662 at the 2020 census—a five percent decrease from the population of 1,751 in 2000. It is part of the Waterloo–Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area and is in the Cedar Valley.

Its first post office opened in 1872. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,664 in 2010, 1,662 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Reinbeck, 1872 to 1945

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Reinbeck post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1917In the archiveReinbeck, IA - Apr. 3, 1917
  5. 1939In the archiveInspecting ears of hybrid seed corn. Reinbeck, Iowa
  6. 1945Born hereBruce French is born here
By decade

Reinbeck, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s6 items
Reinbeck, IA - Apr. 3, 19171917Reinbeck, IA - Apr. 3, 1917Inspecting ears of hybrid seed corn. Reinbeck, Iowa1939Inspecting ears of hybrid seed corn. Reinbeck, IowaBaskets of sorted hybrid seed corn. Reinbeck, Iowa1939Baskets of sorted hybrid seed corn. Reinbeck, IowaDumping ears of hybrid seed corn into elevator. Reinbeck, Iowa1939Dumping ears of hybrid seed corn into elevator. Reinb…Removing damaged kernels from ears of hybrid seed corn. Reinbeck, Iowa1939Removing damaged kernels from ears of hybrid seed cor…Removing damaged kernels from ears of hybrid seed corn. Reinbeck, Iowa1939Removing damaged kernels from ears of hybrid seed cor…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
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.

Reinbeck, IA - Apr. 3, 1917
Retake this viewReinbeck, IA - Apr. 3, 1917, 1917

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Reinbeck’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Reinbeck’s post office has been open since 1872.

Gone or out of use
Reinbecklocale
1cemetery inside Reinbeck
Reinbeck

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Reinbeck’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewReinbeck, IA - Apr. 3, 1917: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Reinbeck’s history

What year was Reinbeck founded?

The Reinbeck post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Reinbeck rank for history?

Reinbeck is more historic than 50% 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.

How old are the homes in Reinbeck?

37% of Reinbeck’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1952.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.