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History · Edgewood

Edgewood dates to 1852, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1880.

1852founded
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Edgewood began

When was Edgewood founded?

1852

Edgewood dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 216 in 18802020 census: 909174 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1848.

What stands out about Edgewood’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 Edgewood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1984. Watch Edgewood change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Edgewood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Edgewood’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Edgewood on the map, 1902 to 1984

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

Edgewood on the 1902 USGS mapEdgewood on the 1964 USGS mapEdgewood on the 1984 USGS map1902Elkader sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Edgewood.

The story so far

Edgewood, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Edgewood yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Edgewood is a city in Clayton and Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Highway 3, which runs through the center of town, is the dividing line between the two counties. The Edgewood post office was established in 1852 on the Clayton side of the town. Edgewood was formally incorporated in 1892, although it had a functioning council for some time before that date. The population was 909 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 923 in 2000.

Edgewood was established in 1852. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 864 to 909 (+5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Edgewood, 1878–1914

Passages that mention Edgewood, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Paul Railroad came to Edgewood and blasted the hopes of all here, and the Town of York is now but a memory. In 1873 a schoolhouse was built near the edge of town, but iu 1875 the postoffice was discontinued. To the south of York, on section 33, is Thorpe, a station on the Chicago Great Western.
History of Delaware County, Iowa, and its people1914 · page 327Read the page →
Read the text

Paul Railroad came to Edgewood and blasted the hopes of all here, and the Town of York is now but a memory. In 1873 a schoolhouse was built near the edge of town, but iu 1875 the postoffice was discontinued. To the south of York, on section 33, is Thorpe, a station on the Chicago Great Western.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the settlers in that vicinity were from the East. The office was a private one, and was supplied from Colony. In May, 1848, Joseph S. Belknap, a native of Vermont, made the first claim in that part of the present site of the village of Edgewood, or "Yankee Settlement," as it was called until the co…
The history of Delaware county, Iowa, containing a history of its county, its cities, towns &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers ..1878 · page 375Read the page →
Read the text

the settlers in that vicinity were from the East. The office was a private one, and was supplied from Colony. In May, 1848, Joseph S. Belknap, a native of Vermont, made the first claim in that part of the present site of the village of Edgewood, or "Yankee Settlement," as it was called until the completion of the D. & St. P, Railroad, that lies in Delaware County. John Gibson had made a claim on the other side of the county line a year or two previous.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The name was ehanged from ""Yanktv Settlement" to Edgewood when the Davenport & St. Paul Railroad Company made the plaee a station on its line. Its depot is on the Clayton County side, also the postoffiee, ohnrehes, most of the business lumses and sehoolhonse. On the Delawaiv side there are 260 peo…
History of Delaware County, Iowa, and its people1914 · page 328Read the page →
Read the text

The name was ehanged from ""Yanktv Settlement" to Edgewood when the Davenport & St. Paul Railroad Company made the plaee a station on its line. Its depot is on the Clayton County side, also the postoffiee, ohnrehes, most of the business lumses and sehoolhonse. On the Delawaiv side there are 260 people ; on the Clayton side, 2.:>(X"' people.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Section 1, 90 — 5, and Bohan Noble appointed Postmaster ; and in May following, Joseph S. Belknap, from Barre, Vt., located on the northeast quarter of Section 2, 90 — 5, about a mile west of the post office, and founded the town of "Yankee Settlement," now called Edgewood. At that time, there was …
The history of Delaware county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers ... history of the Northwest, history of Iowa, map of Delaware county, Constitution of1878 · page 557Read the page →
Read the text

Section 1, 90 — 5, and Bohan Noble appointed Postmaster ; and in May following, Joseph S. Belknap, from Barre, Vt., located on the northeast quarter of Section 2, 90 — 5, about a mile west of the post office, and founded the town of "Yankee Settlement," now called Edgewood. At that time, there was but one settler in that vicinity, on the Clayton side, John Gibson, who settled there about 1846.

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.

Timeline

Edgewood, 1848 to 1902

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Yankee Settlement post office opens
  3. 1852
    FoundingEdgewood is established
  4. 1873Post officeThe Yankee Settlement post office closes
  5. 1873Post officeThe Edgewood post office opens
  6. 1883Born hereH. Otley Beyer is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Edgewood, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Edgewood, IA library2024Edgewood, IA libraryEdgewoodIowaPopPlot20202021EdgewoodIowaPopPlot2020EdgewoodIowaPopPlot2021EdgewoodIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Edgewood2004IAMap-doton-Edgewood
People over time

Edgewood, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 923

Between 216 and 923 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Edgewood’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Yankee Settlement, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Yankee Settlement
1848–1873
Edgewood
1873–today
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Edgewoodlocale

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

Questions about Edgewood’s history

What year was Edgewood founded?

In 1852, according to Wikidata. Edgewood’s post office opened in 1848, and the census of 1880 counted 216 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (4), 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), 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.