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History · Beaconsfield

Beaconsfield dates to 1881, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Beaconsfield was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2021. Its Register listing is the Beaconsfield Supply Store. Below: maps from 1981 on and the census since 1900.

1881founded
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Beaconsfield began

When was Beaconsfield founded?

1881

Beaconsfield dates its founding to 1881 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 177 in 19002020 census: 15145 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓

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

Start Beaconsfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Beaconsfield’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

How Beaconsfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Beaconsfield.

Read it all →

Beaconsfield started when the Humeston and Shenandoah Railroad built a train station. In 1881 a town company laid it out as a village. A post office was established in 1882 and closed in 1993.

The Hy-Vee grocery chain has its origin in the Beaconsfield Supply Store, a general store opened by Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg in 1930. That location is on the National Register of Historic Places.

On May 23, 1981, a tornado touched down 15.9 miles southwest of Beaconsfield. It was rated F2.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Beaconsfield, 1881 to 1981

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881
    FoundingBeaconsfield is established
  3. 1882Post officeThe Beaconsfield post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1981On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Beaconsfield, decade by decade

Today2 recent
BeaconsfieldIowaPopPlot2021BeaconsfieldIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Beaconsfield2004IAMap-doton-Beaconsfield
On the map

Beaconsfield on the map in 1981

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

Beaconsfield on the 1981 USGS map1981Ellston 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 Beaconsfield.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Beaconsfield

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Beaconsfield Supply Store
Beaconsfield Supply Store
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial1
Beaconsfield Supply StoreCommercial

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Beaconsfield, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 201

Between 11 and 201 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Beaconsfield

Nobody well known was born in Beaconsfield itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Meridel Le SueurAmerican writer and social activist · b. 1900
John McConnellAmerican environmentalist · b. 1915
Zales EctonAmerican politician · b. 1898
H. R. GrossAmerican politician · b. 1899
Lloyd ThurstonAmerican politician · b. 1880
John Clinton PorterAmerican politician · b. 1871
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Beaconsfield’s post office has been open since 1882.

Gone or out of use
Beaconsfieldlocale

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

Questions about Beaconsfield’s history

What year was Beaconsfield founded?

In 1881, according to Wikidata. Beaconsfield’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1900 counted 177 people here.

What is on the National Register in Beaconsfield?

One place: the Beaconsfield Supply Store (listed 2007).

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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.