Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Richland post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Richland’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Richland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Richland is a city in Keokuk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 542 at the time of the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1843. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 584 to 542 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Richland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the township of Richland, Keokuk county, was mainly reared in that vicinity. Here, in the little log schoolhouse, which stood one and one-half miles east of Richland, and in the schools of Richland he received his education, which has served him well for all practical business purposes. For some time after leaving" school he assisted his father on the home place. Then, March 8, 1868. he married Eliza Greenlee, who was born in Clear Creek township, Keokuk county, Iowa, August 27, 1848, youngest of the seven children of John and Nancy (Blue) Green-
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with horse and ox teams to Keokuk county, Iowa, and the part which he took in founding and developing the county well entitled him to he inscribed high on the roll of Keokuk's honored pioneers and eminent men. During his first season here he farmed on rented land in Richland township, after which he purchased a farm east of the village of Richland, but subsequently sold his possessions here and returned to his old home in Indiana. The old Hoosier state, however, (lid not long claim him among its residents, for he soon came again to Iowa, this time pur-
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The town of Richland was laid out by Pryor C. Woodward on the 19th day of June, 1841, and surveyed by J. B. Davis, of Washington county. Soon thereafter Benjamin Edwards laid out another town just five miles northwest of Kichland, on the grounds now composing the beautiful farm of Allen Stalker. This town was laid out as a rival of Richland, [none respect it had the advantage of most towns, for it had two names: one of which was !Newton and the other Western City. As it and Richland were both desiring to be recognized as the capital of the county when organ-
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Richland township has always had a good reputation for its schools. The first school of the county was taught in a school-house about three and a half miles northeast of Richland, in a house which has already been described in our educational chapter. This township also boasts of having possessed the only successful academy of the county. It was located in the town of Richland and was attended by pupils from all parts of the county.
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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Richland’s post office has been open since 1843.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Richland post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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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