Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Titonka post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Titonka’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Titonka.
Titonka got its start in the year 1898, following construction of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway through that territory. Titonka is a Sioux name meaning "big black (buffalo)".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Titonka, cut from the printed page as they were published.
THE Bl'lTALO CHASING IN 1855 The only buffalo ever killed by any settler in Kossuth county was brought down by rifle shots, at the end of an exciting chase, near the present village of Titonka on the third day of August, 1855. The very name "chase" at once suggests who were engaged in the sport that day. W. H. Ingham and A. L. Seeley were at home in the saddle when in sight of large game. Xo other two residents liked the sport so well, and no other two so often found opportunities for enjoying that line of exhilarating exercise. They had been having
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The coming of the branch road of the B. C. R. & N. into Buffalo township in the fall of 1898 gave rise to the town of Titonka. This branch leaves the main line in Concord township, Hancock county, and was designated as the Cedar Rapids, Garner and Northwestern ; but on account of the ties being loosely laid in the hurry to pass the trains over the new road, the line was better known as the Bed Slat and Gum Weed road or the Lath & Northwestern and Klondike. A five per cent tax had been voted by the citizens of Buffalo to induce the road to come, provided the cars should pass over the new line by January 1, 1899. The
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Titonka itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Titonka’s post office has been open since 1898.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Titonka post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 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.