Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #36 of 59 in Idaho. What drives it
Most of Iona was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2007. Its Register listing is the Iona Meetinghouse. Below: maps from 1948 on and the census since 1910.
Iona dates its founding to 1884 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Iona is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #36 of 59 in Idaho. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Idaho towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Idaho town has 8.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Iona’s 3.4 sits near the middle of its state (43% of Idaho towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Iona’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1930, then grew 7-fold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Iona’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Iona yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Iona is a city in Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Idaho Falls, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,717 at the 2020 census.
Iona was established in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,803 to 2,717 (+51%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Iona. 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 Iona.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Iona itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1884, according to Wikidata. Iona’s post office opened in 1892, and the census of 1910 counted 353 people here.
Iona is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #36 of 59 in Idaho. 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.
One place: the Iona Meetinghouse (listed 1973).
6% of Iona’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 8.5% for an Idaho town; the median home was built in 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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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