Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Lincoln Township Mausoleum. Below: old-book passages.
The Zearing post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.
Zearing was named for William Mitchell Zearing, a judge from Chicago who donated a bell to the first church in the community.
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 Zearing’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Zearing.
Zearing was formed out of Lincoln Township, being founded on October 17, 1881, and incorporated on February 6, 1883. The location was selected as it was a suitable water stop for the railroad at that time. It was named for William Mitchell Zearing, a judge from Chicago who donated a bell to the first church in the community.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Zearing, cut from the printed page as they were published.
pearance of prosperity. In Palestine Township there are too many towns to give any one of them all the chance it might have, but Slater has been a good town from the time it was established and Huxley has prospered notably since the interurban railroad came. Colo, Collins, Zearing and Mc- Callsburg are all of them business and social centers that are improving steadily and that will continue to improve as time progresses and the surrounding country grows richer. Gilbert Station and Kelley have the disadvantage of being rather close to Ames, as are Fernald and Shipley to
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.
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.
Zearing’s post office has been open since 1881.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Zearing post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Lincoln Township Mausoleum (listed 2007).
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2004