Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Rose Hill Methodist Episcopal Church. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1965 on, and the census since 1880.
The Rose Hill post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ornbaum (1875), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
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 Rose Hill’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rose Hill yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Rose Hill is a city in Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. The population was 157 at the time of the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1849. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 168 to 157 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Peaked at 275 in 1930; 157 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rose Hill’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Rose Hill, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Rose Hill post-office was established in January, 1876, and is kept by H. L. Orr, the first and only postmaster at this point. The revenue of the office is about $300 per year.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Rose Hill is located on one of the best railroads in the West, and her shipping facilities are first class. However, the light crops for the past two years have lessened what might otherwise be an excellent exhibit.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rose Hill. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rose Hill.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Rose Hill’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Rose Hill’s post office has been open since 1849. Another post office, Ornbaum, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Rose Hill post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Rose Hill Methodist Episcopal Church (listed 2003).
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), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.
Date?
2025
2025
2004
