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History · Arcadia

Arcadia’s post office opened in 1871, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Arcadia began, and where its name came from

When was Arcadia founded?

1871

The Arcadia post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 426 in 18802020 census: 525155 years

How did Arcadia get its name?

Arcadia was named for the region of Arcadia, in Greece.

Founding year: the first Arcadia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Arcadia’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 Arcadia are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Arcadia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Arcadia’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 Arcadia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Arcadia.

Read it all →

Arcadia was laid out in 1871. It was named for the region of Arcadia, in Greece. The date of incorporation of Arcadia was 1881. According of the census carried out in the year before, Arcadia had 450 inhabitants. The original name of the town was "Tip Top", chosen for its location on the Missouri-Mississippi Divide and it being Iowa's topographically most elevated town. In 1880, a large fire destroyed most of the business section of Arcadia. Only 2 buildings were spared by the fire. Most of the work for restoring the destroyed buildings was completed within a year after the event.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Arcadia, decade by decade

Today3 recent
ArcadiaIowaPopPlot2021ArcadiaIowaPopPlotArcadia, IA2020Arcadia, IAIAMap-doton-Arcadia2004IAMap-doton-Arcadia
On the map

Arcadia on the map in 1980

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Arcadia.

Arcadia on the 1980 USGS map1980Arcadia 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 Arcadia.

People over time

Arcadia, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 525

Between 375 and 525 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Arcadia’s history

What year was Arcadia founded?

The Arcadia post office opened in 1871, 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 →
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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 (3), Wikipedia, 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.