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History · Dana

Dana’s post office opened in 1881, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1982 on and the census since 1910.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dana began

When was Dana founded?

1881

The Dana post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 183 in 19102020 census: 38145 years
Founding year: the first Dana post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dana’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 Dana are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Dana’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dana’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dana’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

How Dana came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dana.

Read it all →

Dana was incorporated as a town in 1907. It is named for Samuel Dana, a pioneer settler.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Dana, decade by decade

Today2 recent
DanaIowaPopPlot2021DanaIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Dana2004IAMap-doton-Dana
On the map

Dana on the map, 1982 to 1993

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

Dana on the 1982 USGS mapDana on the 1993 USGS map1982Grand Junction 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 Dana.

People over time

Dana, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 195

Between 38 and 195 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Dana’s history

What year was Dana founded?

The Dana post office opened in 1881, 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), Wikipedia, 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.