Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1920.
The Brunsville post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brunsville’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Brunsville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Brunsville is a city in Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 129 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1910. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 151 to 129 (-15%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Brunsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the White Enameled Refrigerator Company and where he remained until 1909, when he came to lowa and established himself in business at Galva, where he conducted a clothing store with success until 1911, at which time he moved to Brunsville, where he opened a general store and where he has since been in business. He has a well-stocked store and carries a complete line of general merchandise, well suited to his large trade. On July 28, 1915, his ability as a business man in the community was recognized and he was selected as postmaster, a position which he still holds with the paealesy
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brunsville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brunsville.
Between 109 and 151 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brunsville’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Brunsville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Brunsville’s post office has been open since 1910.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Brunsville post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
2021
2004