Founding year: the first Storm Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1873.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Storm Lake’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Storm Lake is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #90 of 140 in Iowa. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Storm Lake’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 Storm Lake’s 4.4 sits near the middle of its state (43% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1873 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Storm Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Storm Lake's first European settler, Abner Bell, arrived in 1856, and the city was officially incorporated in 1873. Though early settlers found no natives permanently occupying the land, the area around the lake was likely used for fishing and hunting by tribes traveling from the north. Centuries prior to European colonization, the area was home to the Mill Creek indigenous culture. Railroad magnate John Insley Blair platted out land in Storm Lake in the 1870s. During the same decade, the Illinois Central Railroad was constructed through the town.
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.
The Storm Lake post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1873.
How does Storm Lake rank for history?
Storm Lake is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #90 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 Storm Lake?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Storm Lake Public Library (listed 1983, the first).
How old are the homes in Storm Lake?
22% of Storm Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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