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History · Barnum

Barnum’s post office opened in 1874, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1900.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Barnum began

When was Barnum founded?

1874

The Barnum post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 175 in 19002020 census: 175152 years
Founding year: the first Barnum post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Barnum’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barnum’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
The story so far

Barnum, in brief

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

Barnum is a city in Webster County, Iowa, United States, just off U.S. Route 20. The population was 175 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1874. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 191 to 175 (-8%).

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

Timeline

Barnum, 1874 to 1979

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Barnum post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1934Born hereFrancis B. Francois is born here
  5. 1979On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Barnum, decade by decade

Today2 recent
BarnumIowaPopPlot2021BarnumIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Barnum2004IAMap-doton-Barnum
On the map

Barnum on the map, 1979 to 1984

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

Barnum on the 1979 USGS mapBarnum on the 1984 USGS map1979Clare 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 Barnum.

People over time

Barnum, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 198

Between 137 and 198 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Barnum’s history

What year was Barnum founded?

The Barnum post office opened in 1874, 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), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.