The story
Read it all →How Colesburg came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Colesburg.
Colesburg was laid out in 1848. The town was named for founders Hiram Cole and James Cole.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Colesburg
Colesburg dates to 1848, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1900.
1848founded
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Colesburg began
When was Colesburg founded?
1848
Colesburg dates its founding to 1848 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.
First census: 274 in 19002020 census: 386178 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1846.The full story ↓
What stands out about Colesburg’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 Colesburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1980. Watch Colesburg change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1848: 178 years of Colesburg.Old housesHalf of Colesburg’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Colesburg’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Colesburg’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Colesburg on the map, 1902 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Colesburg. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Elkader 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 Colesburg.
Timeline
Colesburg, 1846 to 1902
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1846Post officeThe Colony post office opens
- 1848FoundingColesburg is established
- 1849Post officeThe Colesburg post office opens
- 1857
Born hereGeorge Evan Roberts is born here - 1864Post officeThe Colony post office closes
- 20th century
- 1902
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
From the old history books
What they wrote about Colesburg, 1878–1914
Passages that mention Colesburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Delaware County, Iowa, and its people1914 · page 190Read the page →
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one man started an improvement, then the next man who came along sat down by the side of him. These groups of families were called colonies, or settlements; hence, we have Colony Township in this county. David Moreland, Van Side and Wiltse settled near the Town of Colesburg and it was called the Colony, the postoffice bearing that name for many years. DICKSON SETTLEMENT The place where I grew to manhood was called Dickson Settlement. Missouri Dickson made his first improvement there in the year 1838, coming in the autumn
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Delaware County, Iowa, and its people1914 · page 239Read the page →
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Lawrence ^IcNamee, who located here in 1842, purchased the forty-acre claim of Widiington Wiltse, on section 4, for which he gave Si, 000. Joinitjg with Hiram Cole, whose land adjoined his, these two men became the foundei's of this old town. South of Colesburg the Town of Colony was laid out in 1851, by David iloreland, but the two places were so close together they are now considered as one and that is Colesburg.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Delaware county, Iowa, containing a history of its county, its cities, towns &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers ..1878 · page 333Read the page →
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Henry T. Garden, a trapper and Indian trader, is said to have built a cabin probably as early as 1836 or 1837, near the east line of the county, southeast from the present town of Colesburg. Whether he lived here with his family is uncertain, but he resided for several yearsjust over the county line in Dubuque' County, on Section 7, Township 89 north. Range 2 west, and afterward removed to Fayette County, where, in February, 1843, he and a man named Atkins were murdered by Winnebagoes, to whom he sold whisky, and whom he had offended by trying to get them out of the house. The boy escaped, slightly
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Delaware county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers ... history of the Northwest, history of Iowa, map of Delaware county, Constitution of1878 · page 333Read the page →
Read the text
Henry T. Garden, a trapper and Indian trader, is said to have built a cabin probably as early as 1836 or 1837, near the east line of the county, southeast from the present town of Colesburg. Whether he lived here with his family is uncertain, but he resided for several years just over the county line in Dubuque County, on Section 7, Township 89 north. Range 2 west, and afterward removed to Fayette County, where, in February, 1843, he and a man named Atkins were murdered by Winnebagoes, to whom he sold whisky, and whom he had offended by trying to get them out of the house. The boy escaped, slightly
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
Colesburg, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2021
2004People over time
Colesburg, census by census
Between 271 and 463 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colesburg’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Colesburg’s post office has been open since 1849. Another post office, Colony, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Colony
Colesburg
18401930today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Colesburg’s history
What year was Colesburg founded?
In 1848, according to Wikidata. Colesburg’s post office opened in 1846, and the census of 1900 counted 274 people here.
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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.