Its Register listings are the St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the Iron County Courthouse Buildings and the Ironton Lodge Hall. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: the first Ironton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ironton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ironton is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ironton’s overall grade.
Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ironton’s 29.6 sits above most of its state (84% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 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 Ironton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Ironton was designated county seat in 1857, soon after the formation of Iron County. Like the county, Ironton was named from the deposits of iron ore found in the vicinity. A post office called Ironton has been in operation since 1858.
In early August 1861, Brigader General Ulysses S. Grant led a force of four regiments in the area. In a letter to his wife he described the area as “one of the most delightful places I have ever been in.”
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Ironton post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ironton rank for history?
Ironton is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. 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.
What is on the National Register in Ironton?
Three places: the St. Paul's Episcopal Church (listed 1969), the Iron County Courthouse Buildings (1979) and the Ironton Lodge Hall (2013).
How old are the homes in Ironton?
20% of Ironton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1965.
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), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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