Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: old-book passages.
The Donahue post office opened in 1872, 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Donahue’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Donahue yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Donahue is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 335 at the 2020 census. The city has a mayor-council form of government.
Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 346 to 335 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Donahue, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Following their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Keppy located on a farm of two hundred acres in Winfield township. After a few years he engaged in merchandising in connection with his farming operations. In 1880 he took up his abode in the village of Donahue and since then has been actively identified with various enterprises and with the building up of the town. In that year he was appointed postmaster of Donahue and has since held the position through reappointment.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Davenport & St. Paul, now the Chicago & Milwaukee, passes tiirough the township, and has one station, which was establisiiod sliortly atter the advent of the cars, and around which has grown a small village, Donahue, named in honor of Hon. Michael Donahue, of Davenport. The village was commenced by Phineas Curtis. The first store opened in the place was by R. C. Fuller and H.A.Stokes. There are now two stores, two blacksmith sho])S, and a saloon in the place.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
county, attending the district schools and after putting aside his text-books he gave his undivided attention to farming until he came to the middle west with his wife in 1852. With Scott county as his destination, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of government land near the present town of Donahue in
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.
Nobody well known was born in Donahue itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Donahue’s post office has been open since 1872.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Donahue post office opened in 1872, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), 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.
2022
2022
2021
2004
