Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #18 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
24 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 85 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
Winterset dates its founding to 1849 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winterset is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #18 of 140 in Iowa. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Winterset’s 198 sits above most of its state (92% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 107 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Winterset’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Winterset.
Winterset was platted during a cool spell in the summer of 1849. The name was originally to be "Summerset", but the unseasonable coldness made the commissioners reverse this to "Winterset".
On March 5, 2022, a low-end EF4 tornado struck the areas just outside the city, killing six people.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Winterset, cut from the printed page as they were published.
zens. Sessions of court had been held. The care and safe keeping of prisoners had been costly to the taxpayers of the infant county. Lack of revenue had prevented the earlier building of a gaol of detention. But the sale of lots in the little Town of Winterset, by the county which owned the town site, was providing the means with which to meet its current expenses and also to erect needed county buildings. Thus, at the session of the Commissioners' Court held January 7, 1851, it was "ordered that there be a jail built on lot No. 4, in block No. 18, in the original town of Winterset," to b^ completed by the first Monday
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
WINTERSET INCORPORATED IN 1 857 By a special act of the Legislature, approved January i6, 1857, the Town of Winterset was incorporated, and in April, 1857, the incorporation of the town was Digitized by Google
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
As early as 1853, General Curtis, the prime mover in the great Pacific Railroad enterprise, and who was honored with the title of " Father of the Great Pacific Railroad," made a speech on the subject of the Pacific Railroad, in the "Old Log Court-House" in Winterset. He afterwards, in the year 1858, delivered a speech on the railroad in the east front of the St. Nicholas Hotel, then known as the Pitzer House. His speech was one of the most masterly orations ever delivered on the subject of railroads in the West ; he also pictured in the most vivid and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The city of Winterset was located in July, 1849. William Combs, David Bishop, and William Gentry were the locating Commissioners. The town was surveyed, platted and laid out on the 18th day of July,
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 hereAda McPherson Morley is born hereBuiltBevington, C. D. and Eliza Heath, Privy is builtBuiltCutler-Donahue Covered Bridge is built
Born hereFred Clarke is born here
BuiltW. J. and Nettie J. Cornell House is built
In the archiveWinterset, IA
Born hereJohn Wayne is born here
In the archiveWinterset City Park Red Delicious Apple Boulder and Original Tree
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2016The Hogback Bridge, one of six remaining covered brid…
2016The Hogback Bridge, one of six remaining covered brid…
2016The Hogback Bridge, one of six remaining covered brid…
2016Statue of the legendary Hollywood actor outside the J…
2016The legendary American actor John Wayne's four-room b…
2016The legendary American actor John Wayne's four-room b…
2016The Iowa Theatre
2016The Iowa Theatre
2016The Madison County Courthouse
2014Winterset, Iowa
2014The Winterset Stage 405 East Madison Ave, Winterset, …
2014Live Entertainment! 2014-05-19 18-57
2014Building Community Through The Arts 2014-05-19 19-53
2008Water Tower
2006WintersetIAPark2
2004IAMap-doton-WintersetEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winterset. 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 Winterset.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Winterset’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 915 people in 1860 to 5,353 in 2020, 5 times over.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Winterset’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Winterset’s post office has been open since 1850. Two other post offices 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).
In 1849, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Winterset’s post office opened in 1848, and the census of 1860 counted 915 people here.
Winterset is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #18 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.
24 listings: 20 buildings, among them the Madison County Courthouse (listed 1976, the first), 3 historic districts, the Winterset Courthouse Square Commercial Historic District, the Lewis, Judge W.H. and Emma, Historic District and the Winterset City Park Historic District, with 85 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 107 historic buildings in all.
26% of Winterset’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (24), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
