Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Allison yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Allison is a city in, and the county seat of, Butler County, Iowa, United States. The population was 966 at the 2020 census. Allison is home to the Butler County Fair. The city was named for U.S. Senator William B. Allison in 1881.
Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,029 to 966 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Allison in 1914
Passages that mention Allison, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Butler County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement1914 · page 201Read the page →
Read the text
As I have before said, we moved to Allison in 1883, at which time there Avere about one hundred and fifty inhabitants. George Martin's livery stable, the first in Allison, had been built; he retired from the business several years ago in favor of his son, Bert, who is running the business at the original barn, the first building erected in Allison. The first Allison House stood on the site of the present Arnold store building and was destroyed by fire a few years ago. The first landlord of the hostelry was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Butler County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement1914 · page 415Read the page →
Read the text
At a later date the Bristow district was expanded to include a portion of Pittsford township. After the establishment of the town of Allison, the Maudville district was incorporated in the independent district of Allison. The other independent districts of the township remained without change in their boundaries to the present time.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 (4), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2021
2015
2008
2004
