Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #136 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
Most of Tiffin was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2012. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1880.
Tiffin dates its founding to 1867 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tiffin is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #136 of 140 in Iowa. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Tiffin’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Tiffin’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tiffin. 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 Tiffin.
From Wikipedia’s history of Tiffin.
Tiffin was platted in 1867. The name was a transfer from Tiffin, Ohio, the former home of Rolla Johnson, who owned the town site.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Tiffin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
as superintendent in the construction of the road as far west as Malcolm, Iowa. He was foreman on the Rock Island Railroad, at a point known as Copi to the old settlers, this place being one mile west of Tiffin station. He remained there some twelve years and in 1868 began farming in Harding township, Johnson county, having previously purchased 160 acres of partly improved land, containing a small house which he remodelled. He also added on to the house and made further im-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The C, R. I. & P. R. R., was completed in 1860, but was of little practical benefit to the township, although passengers were let on and off' trains at Copi, the township post-office, until Tiffin was laid out as a town. The land on which the town is situated was a part of the farm belonging to Rolla Johnson, Esq., who named the town Tiffin, after Tiffin, O., the city from which Mr. J. originally hailed. Mr. Johnson about this time sold his farm, and Tiffin interests passed into other hands.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Tiffin is the only post-office in Clear creek township, and Bryan Dennis is the postmaster. The Christian Chapel is located in a beautiful grove in Tiffin. The Grace Methodist Episcopal Church is on the state road, a few rods north of the town.
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 Survey
Born hereHarold M. McClelland is born hereGrew from 47 people in 1880 to 4,512 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tiffin’s Wikipedia page.
Tiffin’s post office has been open since 1868.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1867, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Tiffin’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1880 counted 47 people here.
Tiffin is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #136 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.
1% of Tiffin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 2012.
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 (3), 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 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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