This Old House
Folks who comb through census data often find fascinating facts. The folks at Stacker have been at it again, including compiling a list of counties in Iowa with the oldest homes. Their rankings come via media year the house was built.
As you might imagine, rural counties have the oldest homes…because metro areas keep expanding, including the building of new homes.
The county with the overall oldest home average is Adams County, in southwest Iowa. The median year homes were built was 1944…with 46.6 percent of homes built before 1940. Keokuk County is next, with a median build year of 1947, and again, 46.6 percent of homes built before 1940.
In third, Montgomery County…in fourth, Ida County. Northeast Iowa checks in with Howard County in fifth place for oldest average homes. Then comes Pocahontas in sixth, Harrison in seventh, and Taylor in eighth.
Audubon County is ninth, with Worth County rounding out the top ten.
Then comes Hardin County, with a median build date of 1951, and 40.4% of homes built before 1940. Tama County checks in at thirteenth on the list…median year homes were built in my home county was 70 years ago, 1952. Butler is eighteenth, and Franklin is twentieth.
I don’t have data on this, just my hunch—but rural counties tend to preserve older structures at a higher rate, because there is less of a “disposable society” mentality. That, along with metro growth, explains why the smaller areas rank higher on the list. And I’m sure we all know of wonderfully maintained or restored vintage homes that tell a story of generations of family life. There’s something about that that is preferable to a shiny new build.
