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History · Correctionville

Correctionville dates to 1855, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the George A. and Mary Tinkel Bailey House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1880.

1855founded
1on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Quick answers

How Correctionville began

When was Correctionville founded?

1855

Correctionville dates its founding to 1855 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 86 in 18802020 census: 766171 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1862.The full story ↓

What stands out about Correctionville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Correctionville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Correctionville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
People over time

Correctionville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,151

Peaked at 1,151 in 1940; 766 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Correctionville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Correctionville.

Read it all →

Correctionville was platted in 1855. It was so named from its location on a surveyors' correction line, an east-west line between baselines required because of the Earth's curvature. A post office called Correctionville has been in operation since 1862.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Correctionville, 1855 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855
    FoundingCorrectionville is established
  3. 1862Post officeThe Correctionville post office opens
  4. 1875In the archivePlans of Sioux City, Le Mars, Correctionville and Cherokee. (0018.097)
  5. 1892Born hereJ. Elwood Davis is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,151
  8. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Correctionville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

On the map

Correctionville on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Correctionville on the 1969 USGS mapCorrectionville on the 1985 USGS map1969Correctionville 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 Correctionville.

Every building

Correctionville, building by building, 1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Correctionville fire insurance map, 1916, sheet 11916Sheet 1 of 2

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Plans of Sioux City, Le Mars, Correctionville and Cherokee. (0018.097)
Retake this viewPlans of Sioux City, Le Mars, Correctionville and Cherokee. (0018.097), 1875

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Correctionville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Correctionville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1998
George A. and Mary Tinkel Bailey House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Correctionville’s post office has been open since 1862.

Gone or out of use
Correctionvillelocale

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

Questions about Correctionville’s history

What year was Correctionville founded?

In 1855, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Correctionville’s post office opened in 1862, and the census of 1880 counted 86 people here.

What is on the National Register in Correctionville?

One place: the George A. and Mary Tinkel Bailey House (listed 1998).

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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.