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History · Beacon

Beacon’s post office opened in 1867, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

1867first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Beacon began

When was Beacon founded?

1867

The Beacon post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Givin (1864) and Oskaloosa Junction (1866), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 445159 years
Founding year: the first Beacon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Beacon’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 Beacon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Beacon.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Beacon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Beacon’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Beacon’s post office has been open since 1867. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Givin
1864–1951
Oskaloosa Junction
1866–1867
Beacon
1867–today
18601940today

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

The story

How Beacon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Beacon.

Read it all →

Coal miners in Beacon joined the United Mine Workers union in 1894, organizing local 178. By 1902, this had 100 members.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Beacon, 1864 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864Post officeThe Givin post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Oskaloosa Junction post office opens
  4. 1867Post officeThe Oskaloosa Junction post office closes
  5. 1867Post officeThe Beacon post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901Born hereWilliam S. Beardsley is born here
  8. 1951Post officeThe Givin post office closes
By decade

Beacon, decade by decade

Today4 recent
BeaconIowaWelcomeSign2025BeaconIowaWelcomeSignBeaconIowaCityHall2025BeaconIowaCityHallBeaconIowaPopPlot2021BeaconIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Beacon2004IAMap-doton-Beacon

Questions about Beacon’s history

What year was Beacon founded?

The Beacon post office opened in 1867, 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 (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.