Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Clare

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Clare

Clare’s post office opened in 1882, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1900.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Clare began

When was Clare founded?

1882

The Clare post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 374 in 19002020 census: 136144 years
Founding year: the first Clare post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Clare’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 Clare are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Clare’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clare’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clare’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
The story so far

Clare, in brief

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

Clare is a city in Webster County, Iowa, United States. The population was 136 at the 2020 census. Clare was settled c. 1882 by immigrants from County Clare, Ireland. Clare is also home to a United States post office on West Front St.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 146 to 136 (-7%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Clare in 1913

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

In 1896, he came to Clare and opened a restaurant, but he subsequently disposed of this and engaged in the mercantile business. Despite his inexperience the latter venture thrived, largely owing to his good judgment, close attention to details and gracious and accommodating treatment of patrons. Mo…
History of Fort Dodge and Webster County, Iowa1913Read the page →
Read the text

In 1896, he came to Clare and opened a restaurant, but he subsequently disposed of this and engaged in the mercantile business. Despite his inexperience the latter venture thrived, largely owing to his good judgment, close attention to details and gracious and accommodating treatment of patrons. More than average prosperity has rewarded the efforts of Mr. Flanagan who in addition to his store owns his residence and two store buildings and holds some stock in the Clare Mutual Telephone Company.

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.

By decade

Clare, decade by decade

Today2 recent
ClareIowaPopPlot2021ClareIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Clare2004IAMap-doton-Clare
On the map

Clare on the map, 1979 to 1984

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

Clare on the 1979 USGS mapClare on the 1984 USGS map1979Clare 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 Clare.

People over time

Clare, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 374

Between 136 and 374 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Clare’s history

What year was Clare founded?

The Clare post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (2), 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.