Founding year: the first West Burlington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives West Burlington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Burlington is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #108 of 140 in Iowa. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West Burlington’s overall grade.
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 West Burlington’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 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 West Burlington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of West Burlington yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
West Burlington is a city in Des Moines County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the Mississippi River city of Burlington. The population was 3,197 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Burlington, IA–IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,968 to 3,197 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about West Burlington in 1915
Passages that mention West Burlington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
disregarded by the city council. Can it be said, had the question of the locating of the shops at Leffler's Station on a small portion of ground just opposite on which was to be placed the shops, and adjoining this ground and outside the limits of the city, was to be laid out the Town of West Burlington, the voters of the city would have authorized the sale? But the city council by the express terms of the conveyance left it with the company to select such grounds as it wished, provided they were in the city. At the time of the execution of the deed, the grounds selected by it were not in the city, and did not come within the limits of the city
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Des Moines County, Iowa1915 · page 515Read the page →
Read the text
The Village of West Burlington in this township was incorporated in 1884, and has a population of 1,260 people. It has almost all the advantages of the City of Burlington. It is connected with the later city by two electric railways.
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.
Timeline
West Burlington, 1855 to 1934
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Burlington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1934Burlington sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Burlington.
People over time
West Burlington, census by census
Between 836 and 3,371 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Burlington’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The West Burlington post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does West Burlington rank for history?
West Burlington is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #108 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.
How old are the homes in West Burlington?
18% of West Burlington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1961.
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), 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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