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History · Carbon

Carbon dates to 1849, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1880.

1849founded
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Carbon began

When was Carbon founded?

1849

Carbon dates its founding to 1849 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 252 in 18802020 census: 36177 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1874.The full story ↓

What stands out about Carbon’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 Carbon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 383 in 1940; 36 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Carbon’s homes were built before 1948.Deep rootsEstablished in 1849: 177 years of Carbon.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Carbon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Carbon’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

Carbon, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 383

Peaked at 383 in 1940; 36 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Carbon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Carbon.

Read it all →

Carbon is located on the Middle Nodaway River. This was home to the Pottawatomie, Oto and Iowa Indian tribes, until the treaty of 1851 forced their removal to Kansas or Indian Territory, now known as Oklahoma. The first settler to Carbon was Elijah Walters, who established a sawmill there in 1849. He reported seeing huts and old camp fires but stated that the tribes had moved on, only to see an occasional "red man" appear and look over old camp sites and burial sites, then move on. Elijah built a mill on the Middle Nodaway river that became a great social center of its time.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Carbon, 1849 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849
    FoundingCarbon is established
  3. 1874Post officeThe Carbon post office opens
  4. 1880Post officeThe Shinn post office opens
  5. 1881Post officeThe Shinn post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 383
  8. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Carbon, decade by decade

Today3 recent
CarbonIowaPopPlot2021CarbonIowaPopPlotCarbon, IA2019Carbon, IAIAMap-doton-Carbon2004IAMap-doton-Carbon
On the map

Carbon on the map, 1980 to 1993

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

Carbon on the 1980 USGS mapCarbon on the 1993 USGS map1980Carbon 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 Carbon.

Famous people

Famous people close to Carbon

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

See all →
Henry A. WallaceAmerican politician (1888–1965); Vice President… · b. 1888
Glenn MillerAmerican band leader, arranger, and composer · b. 1904
Johnny CarsonAmerican talk show host and comedian · b. 1925
Marcia Wallace PeamsAmerican actress and comedian · b. 1942
W
Walter CunninghamAmerican astronaut · b. 1932
Fred Lawrence WhippleAmerican astronomer · b. 1906
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Carbon’s post office has been open since 1874. Another post office, Shinn, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Carbon
1874–today
Shinn
1880–1881
18701950today

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

Questions about Carbon’s history

What year was Carbon founded?

In 1849, according to Wikidata. Carbon’s post office opened in 1874, and the census of 1880 counted 252 people here.

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 (3), 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.