[2] Iowa Highway 136 passes through Worthington, which is situated north of Cascade and south of Dyersville.

The land on which Worthington is currently located was originally purchased by David Lovelace from the United States Government.

In 1858, an Englishman named Amos Worthington came to the area to establish a general store.

In 1861, Worthington sold his store to a William Moore and left for Cincinnati, Ohio.

Settlers also began arriving in the area, with a number of people setting up businesses.

On October 1, 1892, a number of local citizens filed a petition in the District Court of Iowa in and for Dubuque County asking for Worthington to be formally incorporated as a town.

On November 23, the court called for village inhabitants Peter Baum, W. Lattner, G.A.

As commissioners they were to call for a special election of all qualified people in the proposed area to vote on the matter of being incorporated.

Then on March 6, 1893, the results of the election were formally certified by the District Court Clerk — finalizing the incorporation of Worthington, Iowa.

The formal date of incorporation of Worthington was set as January 10, 1893 when the special election had taken place.

[4] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.39 square miles (1.01 km2), all land.

[13] Matt Tobin, American football offensive tackle for the New England Patriots, is from Worthington.

In Mike Mullin's 2011 novel, Ashfall, Worthington is one of the main character's stops on his journey.