A post office was established as Chelsea in 1863. Chelsea was laid out in 1863, and it was incorporated in 1878. It was named after Chelsea, Massachusetts.
Chelsea was surveyed in the spring of 1863 by Charles Irish for Seneca C. Breese on the northwest quarter of section 17. A few years later, James Hunter added nine acres on section 7, and in 1870, the Iowa Railroad Land Company added nine acres on section 18. At the time, there was a log cabin on the northeast corner of section 18 and a warehouse built by J. R. Graham in 1862 on the northwest corner of section 17.
Peaked at 575 in 1930; 229 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Chelsea’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Chelsea, 1879–1883
Passages that mention Chelsea, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Tama County, Iowa, together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history ... and biographies of representative citizens. History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races,1883 · page 918Read the page →
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The village of Chelsea was surveyed and platted by Charles Irish for Seneca C. Breese, in the spring of 1863, on the northwest 'quarter of section 17. A few years later, James Hunter platted an addition of nine acres on sec^non 1, and in 1870, the Iowa Railroad land Company, platted an addition of the same number of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Tama County, Iowa, together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history ... and biographies of representative citizens. History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races,1883 · page 1072Read the page →
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On the morning of the 29tli of August, 1878, Michael Straka, a Bohemian, was murdered in the woods near the village of Chelsea. The perpetrator of this foul and dastardly act has never been brought to justice. Mr. Straka came to Chelsea from Quarry Station, Marshall county, on the day before his murder,
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history of tama county, iowa its cities, towns and villages1879 · page 284Read the page →
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J. W. Shaler.—This gentleman has been a resident of Chelsea since March 1872, and until July, 1877, was in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad company as station agent.
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
Chelsea, 1862 to 1968
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 (4), 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.
2021
2014
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