Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Johnson was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: maps from 1903 on and old-book passages.
The Johnson post office opened in 1914, 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 Johnson’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Johnson.
A post office was established at Johnson in 1914, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1930. The community was named for Mr. Johnson, a railroad official.
The original site was just one of many villages for the Native American tribe of Piankeshaw.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Johnson, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Johnson county, like many other sections of the \\'est, had its epidemic of railroad projects. In the days of railroad "wild-catting" there were many railroad rumors and railroad booms that never reached the stage of steel rails and many of them never even got as far as the preliminary survey.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
its beginning with the primitive log school house whicli was maintained by the settlers and known as "subscription schools."' This was the method generally in vogue prior to the public school svstem. Some of the first school buildings in Johnson county were erected in Center\-iew township. The first log school house erected within the present limits of this township was located on the south side of Brier creek, one and one-half miles south of the present village of Centerview. prolialiiy not later than 1835. There has lu-en no tangible trace of this Iniilding
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the beginning of the Civil War. On his return from service he was elected clerk of the courts of Muscatine county and served in that capacity for six years. In the spring of 1870 he settled in Johnson county on a large farm, upon a part of which, in 1872, he laid out a portion of the town of Lone Tree. He continued the business of farming until 1889, when he reliKSIDKXCK (IF DAVID JAYN K tired. At that time he was appointed postmaster of Lone
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Johnson. 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 Johnson.
Nobody well known was born in Johnson itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Johnson post office opened in 1914, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
2016
