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History · Beaman

Beaman’s post office opened in 1875, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1880.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Beaman began

When was Beaman founded?

1875

The Beaman post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 201 in 18802020 census: 161151 years
Founding year: the first Beaman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Beaman’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 Beaman are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 266 in 1900; 161 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Beaman’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Beaman’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Beaman’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
People over time

Beaman, census by census

010020018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 266

Peaked at 266 in 1900; 161 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Beaman came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Beaman.

Read it all →

Beaman was originally called Wadiloupe. The present name is for H. H. Beaman, the original owner of the town site.

A post office was established as Wadiloup in 1867, renamed Beaman in 1875, and remains in operation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Beaman, 1875 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Beaman post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 266
  5. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Beaman, decade by decade

Today2 recent
BeamanIowaPopPlot2021BeamanIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Beaman2004IAMap-doton-Beaman
On the map

Beaman on the map in 1960

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

Beaman on the 1960 USGS map1960Conrad East 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 Beaman.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Beaman’s post office has been open since 1875.

Gone or out of use
Beamanlocale

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

Questions about Beaman’s history

What year was Beaman founded?

The Beaman post office opened in 1875, 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.