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History · Cumming

Cumming’s post office opened in 1887, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1930.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Cumming began

When was Cumming founded?

1887

The Cumming post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 149 in 19302020 census: 436139 years
Founding year: the first Cumming post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cumming’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 Cumming are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1970 and 1990, then grew 3-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cumming’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cumming’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
People over time

Cumming, census by census

010020030040019401960198020002020189 in 1970Low: 132

Lost a third of its people between 1970 and 1990, then grew 3-fold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story so far

Cumming, in brief

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

Cumming is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 436 at the time of the 2020 census. A part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area, Cumming is considered one of the smallest incorporated suburbs of the metro area. The smallest of all cities in the five-county metro area is Bevington, in Madison and Warren counties, which had a population of 58 in 2000.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 351 to 436 (+24%).

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

Timeline

Cumming, 1887 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Cumming post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 436
By decade

Cumming, decade by decade

Today4 recent
CummingIowaPark2025CummingIowaParkCummingIowaCityHall2025CummingIowaCityHallCummingIowaPopPlot2021CummingIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Cumming2004IAMap-doton-Cumming
On the map

Cumming on the map, 1972 to 1984

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

Cumming on the 1972 USGS mapCumming on the 1984 USGS map1972Cumming 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 Cumming.

Famous people

Famous people close to Cumming

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

See all →
John WayneAmerican actor · b. 1907
Stanley B. PrusinerAmerican neurologist and biochemist · b. 1942
Cloris LeachmanAmerican actress and comedian · b. 1926
Corey TaylorAmerican musician · b. 1973
Bill BrysonAmerican-British author · b. 1951
Brandon RouthAmerican actor · b. 1979
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Cumming’s post office has been open since 1887.

Gone or out of use
Cumminglocale

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

West Des Moines7 historic placesC+

Questions about Cumming’s history

What year was Cumming founded?

The Cumming post office opened in 1887, 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 (4), 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.