The story
Read it all →How Villisca came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Villisca.
The settlement was founded under the name "The Forks". Villisca was platted in 1858 by pioneer D. N. Smith.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Villisca
Villisca’s post office opened in 1863, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Josiah B. and Sara Moore House and the Villisca National Guard Armory. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1910 on.
1863first post office
2on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
4famous people
Quick answers
How Villisca began
When was Villisca founded?
1863
The Villisca post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 1,132163 years
How historic is Villisca?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Villisca post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Villisca’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Villisca is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Villisca’s overall grade.
Founding era1863, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194043.4% of homes (±6.9) · typical IA town 21.6% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register2 listings, 19.1 per 10,000 residents · typical IA town 9.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 76%
NewerOlder
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 Villisca’s 19.1 sits above most of its state (68% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Villisca’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Villisca’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Villisca’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Villisca, 1863 to 1948
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1863Post officeThe Villisca post office opens
- 1869Born hereAnna Lalor Burdick is born here
- 20th century
- 1907
Born hereLynn King is born here - 1910
In the archiveVillisca Carnegie Library - 1913
BuiltVillisca National Guard Armory is built - 1915
Born hereJudd Holdren is born here - 1943
In the archiveHomecoming by Earle Bunker - 1948Born hereRandy Weaver is born here
By decade
Villisca, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1910s–1940s2 items
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
2024
2013
2004Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewVillisca Carnegie Library, 1910
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Villisca’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
2 historic places in Villisca
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Josiah B. and Sara Moore House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Queen Anne1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →4 famous people were born in Villisca
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Villisca’s history
What year was Villisca founded?
The Villisca post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Villisca rank for history?
Villisca is more historic than 76% 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.
What is on the National Register in Villisca?
Two places: the Josiah B. and Sara Moore House (listed 1997) and the Villisca National Guard Armory (2015).
How old are the homes in Villisca?
43% of Villisca’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1957.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.