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History · Danbury

Danbury’s post office opened in 1877, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1880.

1877first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Danbury began

When was Danbury founded?

1877

The Danbury post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Listonville (1872), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 69 in 18802020 census: 320149 years
Founding year: the first Danbury post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Danbury’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 Danbury are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 728 in 1940; 320 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Danbury’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Danbury’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Danbury’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

Danbury, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 728

Peaked at 728 in 1940; 320 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Danbury came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Danbury.

Read it all →

A post office called Danbury has been in operation since 1877. The city's name is an amalgamation of the name of its founder, Daniel Thomas, and the county in which it is located, Woodbury.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Danbury, 1872 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Listonville post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Listonville post office closes
  4. 1877Post officeThe Danbury post office opens
  5. 1881Born hereHarry Eells is born here
  6. 1887Born hereVincent Segur is born here
  7. 1891Born hereRaymond Haley is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1907Born herePaul Collins is born here
  10. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 728
  11. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Danbury, decade by decade

Today2 recent
DanburyIowaPopPlot2021DanburyIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Danbury2004IAMap-doton-Danbury
On the map

Danbury on the map, 1969 to 1982

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

Danbury on the 1969 USGS mapDanbury on the 1982 USGS map1969Danbury 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 Danbury.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Danbury

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
R
Raymond HaleyAmerican baseball player · b. 1891
H
Harry EellsAmerican baseball player · b. 1881
P
Paul CollinsAmerican football player · b. 1907
V
Vincent SegurCanadian politician · b. 1887
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Danbury’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Listonville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Listonville
1872–1877
Danbury
1877–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Danburylocale

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

Questions about Danbury’s history

What year was Danbury founded?

The Danbury post office opened in 1877, 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, 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) 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.