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History · Chatsworth

Chatsworth’s post office opened in 1886, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1986 on and the census since 1910.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Chatsworth began

When was Chatsworth founded?

1886

The Chatsworth post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1900.

First census: 131 in 19102020 census: 75140 years
Founding year: the first Chatsworth post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1900.

What stands out about Chatsworth’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 Chatsworth are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 159 in 1930; 75 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Chatsworth’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chatsworth’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chatsworth’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

Chatsworth, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 159

Peaked at 159 in 1930; 75 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Chatsworth, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chatsworth yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Chatsworth is a city in Sioux County, Iowa, United States. The population was 75 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 79 to 75 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Chatsworth, 1886 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Chatsworth post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 159
  5. 1964Post officeThe Chatsworth post office closes
  6. 1986On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Chatsworth on the map in 1986

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chatsworth.

Chatsworth on the 1986 USGS map1986Sioux City North sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chatsworth.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Chatsworth had its own post office from 1886 to 1964.

Chatsworth
1886–1964
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Chatsworth Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Chatsworth’s history

What year was Chatsworth founded?

The Chatsworth post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1900.

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 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.