Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Thornton

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Thornton

Thornton’s post office opened in 1888, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

1888first post office
0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Thornton began

When was Thornton founded?

1888

The Thornton post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 400138 years
Founding year: the first Thornton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Thornton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Thornton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Thornton’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Thornton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thornton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Thornton, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Thornton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Thornton is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 400 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 422 to 400 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Thornton, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Thornton, Iowa August 5, 20242024Thornton, Iowa August 5, 2024IAMap-doton-Thornton2004IAMap-doton-Thornton

Questions about Thornton’s history

What year was Thornton founded?

The Thornton post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.