Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1966 on, and the census since 1910.
The Dickens post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 378 in 1940; 146 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dickens’ Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dickens yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Dickens is a city in Clay County, Iowa, United States. The population was 146 in the 2020 census, a decline from 202 in 2000.
Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 185 to 146 (-21%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Dickens, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The people ni and around Dickens are a moral and upright class of citizens, and faithful attendants at divine worship. Until the establishment of the town of Dickens the people of that vicinity were accustomed to attend services at the Barlow and Drake schoolhouses. \arious revivals had been held at these, places and quite a religious sentiment created, and from this nucleus has grown the Dickens organization and church. The project of constructing a suitable place of worship was begun in 1887, and in a short time the present handsome and commodious edifice was built. Its dimensions are twenty-eight by forty-five feet, with a seat-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The people in and around Dickens are a moral and upright class of citizens, and faithful attendants at divine worship. Until the establishment of the town of Dickens, the people in that vicinity were accustomed to attend services at the Barlow and Drake school houses. Various revivals had been held at these places and quite a religious sentiment ereated, and from this nucleus has grown the Dickens organization ani church. The project of constructing a suitable place for worship was begun in 1887, and in a short time the present handsome and commodi-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
settlers in the north part of the county. Among its citizens will be found some of the best, most prosperous farmers and business men in the county. It is, in point of wealth, among the first, and is constantly gaining. The little town of Dickens was started in 1886, and although still small, is gradually growing and gaining and now contains several stores, warehouses, a hotel, a school and church edifices. It also has representatives of a majority of the trades, and is destined to become a' town of importance as a trading point. Its exhibit in the line of trade is quite flattering, and is annually increasing. It is located
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dickens. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dickens.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dickens’ page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Dickens itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Dickens post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 the Library of Congress (5), 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.
1936
1936
1936
1936
