Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 27% of U.S. towns · #114 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1990.
The Saylorville post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Keen (1898) and Carney (1908), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 27% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Saylorville is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #114 of 140 in Iowa. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Saylorville’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.
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 →
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 Saylorville’s history is told.
Saylorville had its own post office from 1850 to 1895. Two other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Saylorville. 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 Saylorville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Saylorville.
Saylorville was laid out in 1850. It is named for its founder, John B. Saylor.
Coal mining played an important part in the early history of Saylorville, as outlined in the map below.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Saylorville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
SAYLORVILLE was laid out by John B. Saylor in 1850. The town was located in the center of section three; a new town was laid out by Mr. Saylor in 1855, adjoining the old town, and called New Saylorville. On account of the location of the railroad some two miles east, and the establishment of a station, the town of Saylorville has been going back during the past few years.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
to be released from the contract. His request was acceded to and the building was completed, the total cost being two thousand and fifteen dollars. Saylor town¬ ship was separated from Des Moines township in 1848 and named in honor of the Saylor settlement. In 1850 Mr. Saylor laid out the town of Saylorville and five } eai s later made additions to its area. It prospered for a while and was a rival of the fort for the location of the county seat, but after the railroad was built through to Ames, passing the town at a distance of two miles, its glory departed and it rapidly dwindled away. During the Civil war Mr. Saylor joined the army
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
John Saylor, afterwards so prominent in the county, settled here in 1845, and gave the name to the township. He laid out Saylorville, May Ist, 1851, James Ewing built the first frame house, and Mr. Case from Four Mile Township taught the first school. The mills of Messrs. Tidrick and Bales were heavily patronized. The Methodists built a church in 1858. John Whitmer was one of the first settlers in the vicinity of Saylorville. The village having been left out
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
continuing in business there until 1849; at that time he went to Terre Haute, Indiana, and opened a boot and shoe store, running a shop in connection with it. He made that place his home until 1855, when he came to Iowa and located near Saylorville, this county, engaging there in farming. The following year he moved into Saylorville, opened a shop, and in 1876 came to Altoona and there opened a shop which he still carries on.
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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 2,709 and 3,584 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Saylorville’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Saylorville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Saylorville post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Saylorville is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #114 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.
10% of Saylorville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1974.
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).
From Wikipedia, 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.
