Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1910.
The Webb post office opened in 1900, 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 Webb’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Webb yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Webb is a city in Clay County, Iowa, United States. The population was 138 in the 2020 census, a decline from 165 in 2000. The Webb post office opened in 1900.
Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 141 to 138 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Peaked at 254 in 1940; 138 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Webb’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Webb, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In Septemebr, 1900, Mr. Addington came to Webb, Iowa, and established the Webb Record, a weekly newspaper which has an extensive circulation in the town and county. Not only in journalistic lines is he connected with the interests of this citv but is also serving as postmaster under presidential appointment, to July 9, 1908.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Webb. 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 Webb.
Webb’s post office has been open since 1900.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Webb post office opened in 1900, 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 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.
