Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Star-Clipper-Canfield Building and Winding Stairway and the Young, John W., Round Barn. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1900 on and old-book passages.
The Traer post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wolf Creek (1857), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Traer is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 Traer’s 13.2 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Traer’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Traer.
Traer got its start in the year 1873, following construction of Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway through the territory. The city was named for John W. Traer.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Traer, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Q. D. Bonney is one of the early business men of Traer. Before the town of Traer had an existence, he was in business at Buckingham, where he had purchased the drug stock of John Zehrung in October, 1869. The store he occupied at Buckingham, was built by Dr. W. A.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.![Wlien the town of Traer was established the church was moved to tliat place in Septeml)er, 1871. After the building had been moved and fitted u]) Rev. C. II. I'issell became pastor and still remains with the congregation. The membership at present is about one-hundred.](https://images.townratings.com/story/5673/bk-4acb40b1199dde25-l.jpg)
Wlien the town of Traer was established the church was moved to tliat place in Septeml)er, 1871. After the building had been moved and fitted u]) Rev. C. II. I'issell became pastor and still remains with the congregation. The membership at present is about one-hundred.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
preached the first discourse at the house of Norman L. Osborn, on the northwest corner of the present site of the town of Traer, on the 4th of June, 1853. A Class was organized at the time, consisting of Ira Taylor and family, and Norman li.
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.
Born hereMargaret Wilson is born here
In the archiveInterior view, Opera HouseOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Traer’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Traer’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Wolf Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Traer post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Traer is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. 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.
Two places: the Star-Clipper-Canfield Building and Winding Stairway (listed 1975) and the Young, John W., Round Barn (1986).
38% of Traer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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