Spencer’s post office opened in 1858, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #59 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 135 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Spencer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Spencer’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spencer is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #59 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 Spencer’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 Spencer’s 122 sits above most of its state (84% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 139 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% 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 (±5.1 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 Spencer’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
Spencer, building by building, 1893–1924
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.
When Clay County was established in 1851, it had no local government and official business was done out of Sergeant's Bluff, nearly 100 miles away on the Missouri River. In 1859, Judge Hubbard of Iowa's 4th Judicial District authorized a committee to find a site for the county seat. This committee selected "Section 20 of Spencer Township", located roughly in the center of the county near the confluence of "Sioux River and Ocheydan Creek", as the site for the "seat of justice". County Judge Charles Smeltzer approved their plan and began signing documents with the location "Spencer, Clay County, Iowa", even though he was not physically there. A small group of land speculators had cleared the area and laid out a town plan, but there were no people living in that area at the time. Most of Clay County's residents were living in Peterson Township, in the far southeastern corner of the county.…
Passages that mention Spencer, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Clay County, Iowa, from its earliest settlement to 19091909 · page 61Read the page →
Read the text
Kail, James Mars, Remain Hough, Solomon Wells, Rev. D. N. Coats and his son, R. A. Coats. There also came John Martin, F. M. Wells, Homer and Anson Calkins and John W. ]\farsten. John Marsten located on section i and owned the land on which the original town of Spencer now stands. The settlement grew rapidly and soon a town began to assume proportions on the west side of the township, which is now known as the city of Spencer.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Clay County, Iowa, from its earliest settlement to 19091909 · page 60Read the page →
Read the text
All that part of Spencer township outside the incorporated city of Spencer and the territory embraced in the city limits of Spencer was cut off, and made a separate township and designated at Sioux Township April 2, 1894.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ants have always been amung Clay county’s best citizens, and have had the reputation of being enterprising, honorable and prosnerous. The township is most fortunately located, being watered by the Little Sioux Paul railroad. It borders Spencer on the west, in fact a part of the town of Spencer lies within the congressional township of Riverton. A visitor to this place cannot but be impressed with the general evidences of - thrift, the pleasant and comfortable location of its farmers. There are quite a large number of farmers who give particular attention to stock-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Around this nucleus was formed the town of Spencer. Shortly afterward a town site was selected and platted, a post office established and the place put on an air of business ina small way. R. A. Coats was the first postmaster, then came Eliza Carver, P. E. Randall, J. H. Hale and the present incumbent, C.
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.
Timeline
Spencer, 1858 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Spencer’s history
What year was Spencer founded?
The Spencer post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Spencer rank for history?
Spencer is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #59 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 Spencer?
6 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Clay County Courthouse (listed 1981, the first), 2 historic districts, the Grand Avenue Historic Commercial District and the North Grand Avenue Residential Historic District, with 135 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 139 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Spencer?
20% of Spencer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
![Kail, James Mars, Remain Hough, Solomon Wells, Rev. D. N. Coats and his son, R. A. Coats. There also came John Martin, F. M. Wells, Homer and Anson Calkins and John W. ]\farsten. John Marsten located on section i and owned the land on which the original town of Spencer now stands. The settlement gr…](https://images.townratings.com/story/5961/bk-062fd99a6d0deb36-l.jpg)
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