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History · Cleghorn

Cleghorn’s post office opened in 1890, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cleghorn began

When was Cleghorn founded?

1890

The Cleghorn post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 186 in 19102020 census: 240136 years
Founding year: the first Cleghorn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cleghorn’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 Cleghorn are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cleghorn’s homes were built before 1940.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cleghorn’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cleghorn’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

Cleghorn, in brief

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

Cleghorn is a city in Cherokee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 240 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 240 in 2010, 240 in 2020.

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

By decade

Cleghorn, decade by decade

Today2 recent
CleghornIowaPopPlot2021CleghornIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Cleghorn2004IAMap-doton-Cleghorn
On the map

Cleghorn on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Cleghorn on the 1969 USGS mapCleghorn on the 1985 USGS map1969Cleghorn 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 Cleghorn.

People over time

Cleghorn, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 275

Between 186 and 275 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Cleghorn

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

See all →
Nick CollisonAmerican basketball player · b. 1980
Edward LindbergTrack and field competitor · b. 1886
Robert H. SchullerAmerican television evangelist · b. 1926
C
Clyde KluckhohnAmerican anthropologist · b. 1905
Jim NicholsonAmerican attorney, real estate developer, and p… · b. 1938
Dennis MuilenburgAmerican businessman, and former president, cha… · b. 1964

Questions about Cleghorn’s history

What year was Cleghorn founded?

The Cleghorn post office opened in 1890, 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) 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.