Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 31 buildings. Below: old-book passages.
The State Center post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, State Centre (1864), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
State Center was named for its location near the geographical center of the state.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, State Center is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls 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 State Center’s 269 sits above most of its state (96% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 38 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% 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 State Center’s history is told.
The 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of State Center.
State Center got its start in the year 1864, following construction of the railroad through the territory. It was named for its location near the geographical center of the state.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention State Center, cut from the printed page as they were published.
STATE CENTER Originally belonged to Eden and a part of Washington towriship, and was set off after the village of State Center reached nearly full stature. In the winter of 1863, about the first of December, State Center Station was dropped down upon the railroad track, and looked desolate and lonely enough the first winter, as there were but two or three houses besides those
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
State Center Township was created in 1866 from Town 83 north, Range 20 west. Logan Township was created in 1869 from Town 82 north. Range 19 west. Liscomb Township was created in 1869 from Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23, Town 85, Range 18, and Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 23 and 24, Town 85, Range 19.
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.
State Center’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, State Centre, 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 State Center post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
State Center is more historic than 86% 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.
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Watson's Grocery (listed 1998, the first), and 1 historic district, the State Center Commercial Historic District, with 31 contributing buildings. 38 historic buildings in all.
41% of State Center’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.7 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
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