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History · Agency

Agency dates to 1838, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Chief Wapello's Memorial Park. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1905 on.

1838founded
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Agency’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Agency began

When was Agency founded?

1838

Agency dates its founding to 1838 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1849.

2020 census: 620188 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓

What stands out about Agency’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1838: 188 years of Agency.Old housesHalf of Agency’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Agency’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Agency’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewUntitled photo: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Agency, 1838 to 1905

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838
    FoundingAgency is established
  3. 1849Post officeThe Agency City post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Agency City post office closes
  5. 1883Post officeThe Agency post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1905In the archiveUntitled photo
The story

How Agency came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Agency.

Read it all →

An Indian agency was established here in 1838 and operated until the local tribes were moved to Kansas. The town was founded on the site of the agency in 1843 and incorporated in 1859.

Agency is the resting place for Chief Wapello. Chief Wapello was second in command in the Sac and Fox tribe, just under Chief Keokuk. Chief Wapello is buried next to his good friend General Joseph M. Street, and his family.

On April 11, 2001, an F2 tornado ripped through Agency destroying or damaging dozens of structures. Two people were killed and three others injured.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Agency, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Untitled photo1905Untitled photo
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown2 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey Photographer and date unknown. - Old Agency HouseDate?Historic American Buildings Survey Photographer and d…Old Agency HouseDate?Old Agency House
Today3 recent
AgencyIowaPopPlot2021AgencyIowaPopPlotChief Wapello’s Memorial Park2018Chief Wapello’s Memorial ParkIAMap-doton-Agency2004IAMap-doton-Agency
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Untitled photo
Retake this viewUntitled photo, 1905

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Agency’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Agency

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Chief Wapello's Memorial Park
Sites
Chief Wapello's Memorial ParkSite

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Agency

Nobody well known was born in Agency itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Tom ArnoldAmerican stand-up comedian and actor · b. 1959
H
Harry HarlowAmerican psychologist · b. 1905
Adam YoungAmerican musician and singer-songwriter · b. 1986
Karen MorleyAmerican film actress · b. 1909
Beverley OwenAmerican actress · b. 1937
J
Jacob SchickAmerican businessman · b. 1877
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Agency’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Agency City, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Agency City
1849–1883
Agency
1883–today
18401930today
1cemetery inside Agency
Agency

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Agency’s history

What year was Agency founded?

In 1838, according to Wikidata. Agency’s post office opened in 1849.

What is on the National Register in Agency?

One place: the Chief Wapello's Memorial Park (listed 1975).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.