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History · Arthur

Arthur’s post office opened in 1884, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1900.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Arthur began, and where its name came from

When was Arthur founded?

1884

The Arthur post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Struble (1884), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 162 in 19002020 census: 222142 years

How did Arthur get its name?

Arthur was named for Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States.

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

What stands out about Arthur’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 Arthur are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Arthur’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Arthur’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Arthur.

Read it all →

Arthur was platted in 1885. It was named for Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Arthur, 1884 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Arthur post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Struble post office opens
  4. 1884Post officeThe Struble post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Arthur, decade by decade

Today2 recent
ArthurIowaPopPlot2021ArthurIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Arthur2004IAMap-doton-Arthur
On the map

Arthur on the map in 1980

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

Arthur on the 1980 USGS map1980Odebolt West 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 Arthur.

People over time

Arthur, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 290

Between 162 and 290 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Arthur’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Struble, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Arthur
1884–today
Struble
1884–1884
18801950today

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

Questions about Arthur’s history

What year was Arthur founded?

The Arthur post office opened in 1884, 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), 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.