Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listings are the Delmar Calaboose and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Depot-Delmar. Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1880.
Delmar dates its founding to 1871 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Delmar’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Delmar.
Delmar was platted in 1871, shortly after the railroad was built through the site. The name Delmar is said to be a combination of the initials of the six ladies on the first train to arrive into the station: Della, Emma, Laura, Marie, Anna, and Rose. Le Mars, Iowa was similarly so named.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Delmar, cut from the printed page as they were published.
S. S. ^ORTOX, one of Delmar's most prominent citizens, was born in the town of Wales, N. Y., in 1828; in 1853, came to Iowa and settled two and a half miles north of where the town of Delmar now stands ; was elected the first Township Clerk of Bloomfield Township, and it is probable that to S. S. Norton, who is regarded as the father of the town, more than to any other man, Delmar owes its existence, for it was through his untiring eiforts that the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota R,. R. was secured and the town started ; it is doubtful whether the other roads would have made a town where Delmar now stands, if the S., A. & D. had crossed elsewhere ; Mr. Norton was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
St. Patrick's mission, at Delmar Junction, was established as an outlying post of Maquoketa, by Father Tracy, who was appointed to the church at Maquoketa in 1880. He held mass in Westover's Hall before the church was finished in 1882. The church at Maquoketa cost seven thousand dollars. He moved to Delmar after that and was the first resident pastor. Things turned about and Maquoketa became an outpost of Delmar. In 1890 it was, however made an outlying mission of Oxford Junction. In 1887 Father Helan succeeded Father Tracy and in turn Father W. W. Cook came, and he was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mound, Low Moor, Malone, Toronto, Elvira, Burgess, Delmar and Charlotte, all having postoffices. The city of Clinton is noted for its various manufacturing establishments, and especially for its saw mills. There are also flourishing woolen and paper mills.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Old Stone House On the left side of the paved road that goes west out of Delmar one may see an old stone house. It is a quaint affair and well it may be for it was the first stone house built in the township and 1s very close to 100 years old. People of Delmar hope that some time the DeWitt Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will cre eo meccnmen teen a tenant
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Delmar.
1980Delmar North sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Delmar.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 410 and 633 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Delmar’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Delmar itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Delmar’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Brookfield, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1871, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Delmar’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1880 counted 410 people here.
Two places: the Delmar Calaboose (listed 1981) and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Depot-Delmar (1997).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
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