Prairie City was founded in 1946 by Dutch Stalder, and built up by former residents of Strool. The town of Strool was entirely owned by its founder, homesteader Ben Strool, who rented out land to residents and businesses, but did not sell any of it. Since this meant Strool's residents and business-owners did not own their property, they were reluctant to construct buildings with permanent features like basements, for fear they could lose the buildings they had invested in. Moreover, both a railroad and a highway—which had initially been slated to pass through Strool—were later built several miles away, bypassing the area and making it inconvenient to reach.
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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
