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History · Callender

Callender dates to 1867, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1880.

1867founded

0on the National Register

42%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Callender began

When was Callender founded?

1867

Callender dates its founding to 1867 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 50 in 18802020 census: 368159 years

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1873.The full story ↓

What stands out about Callender’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 Callender are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Callender’s homes were built before 1954.

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The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Callender’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

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The story

How Callender came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Callender.

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From 1866 to 1870, the Des Moines Valley Railroad Company constructed tracks between Des Moines and Fort Dodge. The other end of the line originated at Keokuk (at the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers). As a result, several small towns were created by the railroad along the line to support track maintenance and to grow business. At 7 to 10 mi (11 to 16 km) intervals were 38 stops between Keokuk and Fort Dodge. Kesho, the town that would become Callender, was the 36th stop.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Callender in 1876

Passages that mention Callender, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Thk town of Callender is situated upon section 12, town 87. range 30, and was platted and recorded by Aonks and .Iamks Callendkr, June 15th, 1875. This town contains a depot, post olhce, Kesho, one store, an agricultural depot, etc. The Des Moines & Fort Dodge railroad company established a depot a… — **Centennial history of Webster county**1876 · page 18Read the page →
Read the text
Thk town of Callender is situated upon section 12, town 87. range 30, and was platted and recorded by Aonks and .Iamks Callendkr, June 15th, 1875. This town contains a depot, post olhce, Kesho, one store, an agricultural depot, etc. The Des Moines & Fort Dodge railroad company established a depot at this point in the fall of I8();i, and erected a house— twenty by sixty. There being but little business here, a track was laid under the Imilding, which was then loaded on flat-cars and taken to Tara. and the station abandoned until the fall of !87r>.
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

Callender, 1867 to 1965

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

19th century
1867
FoundingCallender is established
1873Post officeThe Kesho post office opens
1877Post officeThe Kesho post office closes
1877Post officeThe Callender post office opens
20th century
1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Callender, decade by decade

Today2 recent

2021CallenderIowaPopPlot

2004IAMap-doton-Callender

On the map

Callender on the map, 1965 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Callender. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1965Gowrie 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 Callender.

People over time

Callender, census by census

Between 50 and 446 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Callender’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Kesho, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Kesho

1873–1877

Callender

1877–today

18701950today

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

Questions about Callender’s history

What year was Callender founded?

In 1867, according to Wikidata. Callender’s post office opened in 1873, and the census of 1880 counted 50 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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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), 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.

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