The story
Read it all →How Castalia came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Castalia.
The railroad was built through Castalia in 1864. Castalia was incorporated in 1902.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Castalia
Castalia’s post office opened in 1854, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1880.
1854first post office
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Castalia began
When was Castalia founded?
1854
The Castalia post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 108 in 18802020 census: 145172 years
Founding year: the first Castalia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Castalia’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 Castalia’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Castalia’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Castalia, census by census
Peaked at 272 in 1920; 145 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Castalia’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Castalia, 1854 to 1920
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1854Post officeThe Castalia post office opens
- 20th century
- 1906
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 272
By decade
Castalia, decade by decade
Date unknown1 to date
Date?Today2 recent
2021
2004On the map
Castalia on the map, 1906 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Castalia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Decorah sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Castalia.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewEureka Bridge, Spanning Yellow River (Moved to City Park
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Castalia’s page.
Retake this view · +15Questions about Castalia’s history
What year was Castalia founded?
The Castalia post office opened in 1854, 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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), 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.