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Chickasaw County CourthouseChickasaw County Courthouse · Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0
–Not graded
History · Alta Vista

Alta Vista’s post office opened in 1873, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1900.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Alta Vista began

When was Alta Vista founded?

1873

The Alta Vista post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Elk Creek (1877), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 179 in 19002020 census: 227153 years
Founding year: the first Alta Vista post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Alta Vista’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 Alta Vista are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 356 in 1910; 227 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Alta Vista’s homes were built before 1940.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alta Vista’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Alta Vista, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 356

Peaked at 356 in 1910; 227 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Alta Vista’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Alta Vista, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alta Vista yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Alta Vista is a city in Chickasaw County, Iowa, United States. The population was 227 at the 2020 census. The town was first named Elk Creek, but was changed to Alta Vista, meaning "high view" in Spanish. The town was established and incorporated in 1894. The George Darrow Round Barn in Alta Vista is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 266 to 227 (-15%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Alta Vista, 1873 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Alta Vista post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Elk Creek post office opens
  4. 1878Post officeThe Elk Creek post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 356
  7. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Alta Vista, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Alta VistaIowaPopPlot2021Alta VistaIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-AltaVista2004IAMap-doton-AltaVista
On the map

Alta Vista on the map, 1972 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alta Vista. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Alta Vista on the 1972 USGS mapAlta Vista on the 1985 USGS map1972Elma sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alta Vista.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Alta Vista’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Elk Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alta Vista
1873–today
Elk Creek
1877–1878
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Alta Vistalocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Alta Vista
CalvaryUnion

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

Questions about Alta Vista’s history

What year was Alta Vista founded?

The Alta Vista post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.