The story
Read it all →How Blakesburg came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Blakesburg.
Blakesburg was laid out in 1852. It was named for one of its founders, Theophilus Blake.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Blakesburg
Blakesburg’s post office opened in 1851, and 58% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: old-book passages.
1851first post office
0on the National Register
58%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Blakesburg began, and where its name came from
When was Blakesburg founded?
1851
The Blakesburg post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Amador (1857) and Amador (1884), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 274175 years
How did Blakesburg get its name?
Blakesburg was named for one of its founders, Theophilus Blake.
Founding year: the first Blakesburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
What stands out about Blakesburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Blakesburg’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blakesburg’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Blakesburg’s post office has been open since 1851. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Blakesburg
Amador
Amador
18501940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Blakesburg, 1901–1914
Passages that mention Blakesburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wapello County, Iowa1901 · page 489Read the page →
Read the text
district schools. By the time he reached the age of twenty years he had decided to engage in some line of business, and as a result moved to Blakesburg, where he embarked in the stock lousiness, buying and shipping extensivel_\' fur a period of four years. He conceived the idea of entering the mercantile business, and in 1.879 established a store in Blakesburg, which
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wapello County, Iowa1914Read the page →
Read the text
ton, Iowa. He is numbered among the directors of the Batavia Savings Bank at Batavia, Iowa, and is a stockholder in the Pirst National Bank at Hedrick and in the Hedrick State Savings Bank. He is likewise a stockholder in the Blakesburg Savings Bank at Blakesburg, Iowa, and has done much to establish and maintain the banking system of his section of the state upon a safe, sound basis. While he is thoroughly progressive, he is at the same time conservative, maintaining an even balance between
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Blakesburg, 1851 to 1902
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Blakesburg, decade by decade
2021
2011
2006
2004Questions about Blakesburg’s history
What year was Blakesburg founded?
The Blakesburg post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.