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History · Alleman

Alleman’s post office opened in 1908, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

1908first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Ashton B Crew · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Alleman began

When was Alleman founded?

1908

The Alleman post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1973.

2020 census: 423118 years
Founding year: the first Alleman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1973.The full story ↓

What stands out about Alleman’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Alleman are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alleman’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Alleman came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alleman.

Read it all →

Alleman was named for early settler brothers George and John L. Allemann. They immigrated from the small town of Untervaz in Canton Grisons in Switzerland. It did not incorporate as a city until May 18, 1973, making it the most recent city to incorporate in Polk County.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Alleman, decade by decade

Today6 recent
AllemanIowaPopPlot2021AllemanIowaPopPlotAlleman Iowa 20090503 Sign2009Alleman Iowa 20090503 SignAlleman Iowa 20090503 School2009Alleman Iowa 20090503 SchoolAlleman Iowa 20090503 Post Office2009Alleman Iowa 20090503 Post OfficeAlleman Iowa 20090503 City Hall2009Alleman Iowa 20090503 City HallIAMap-doton-Alleman2004IAMap-doton-Alleman
Famous people

Famous people close to Alleman

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

See all →
Stanley B. PrusinerAmerican neurologist and biochemist · b. 1942
Cloris LeachmanAmerican actress and comedian · b. 1926
Corey TaylorAmerican musician · b. 1973
L
Laurel ClarkNASA astronaut, medical doctor, United States N… · b. 1961
Bill BrysonAmerican-British author · b. 1951
Brandon RouthAmerican actor · b. 1979
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Alleman’s post office has been open since 1908.

Gone or out of use
Allemanlocale

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

Questions about Alleman’s history

What year was Alleman founded?

The Alleman post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1973.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 (6), 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.