Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Bruce Goldfish Fisheries. Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1880.
Thornburg dates its founding to 1879 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Thornburg’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Thornburg.
The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway built a 66-mile branch to What Cheer via Thornburg in 1879. The town was founded by the railroad and named in memory of Major Thomas T. Thornburgh, who died in the Meeker Massacre. By 1881, Thornburg was at the junction of the line to What Cheer and a branch to Montezuma.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 267 in 1900; 45 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Thornburg’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Thornburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
with the help of his sons, first turned with the plow and made fruitful ; these tracts contain mostly from five to ten acres each. As supervisor of the public roads he placed the first bridge across South English creek north of Thornburg, which served its purpose well and although under water several times always reappeared unharmed. He was one of those who selected the site and procured the title to the land on which schoolhouse No. 1 6 stands, and he also made the first wagon track on a part of the public road running east and west through Prairie township. At
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
county until 1865, when he located in Winnebago, Illinois, and remained there until the fall of 1869, when he left Illinois and came to Iowa, settling on a farm in Prairie township, Keokuk county. He continued to engage in agricultural pursuits until his removal to Thornburg in December, 1899, since which time he has devoted his attention to buying and shipping stock. In his present business he is meeting with good success. He is still the owner of a fine farm of three hundred and six acres of well improved land in Prairie township, which he has
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 Thornburg. 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 Thornburg.
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.
Thornburg’s post office has been open since 1880.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1879, according to Wikidata. Thornburg’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1880 counted 65 people here.
One place: the Bruce Goldfish Fisheries (listed 1982).
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 National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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