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History · Elgin

Elgin’s post office opened in 1852, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Elgin Block, The. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1880.

1852first post office

1on the National Register

31%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Elgin began

When was Elgin founded?

1852

The Elgin post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 428 in 18802020 census: 685174 years

Founding year: the first Elgin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Elgin’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 Elgin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19013 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1984. Watch Elgin change.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elgin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elgin’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

Elgin on the map, 1901 to 1984

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

1901Oelwein 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 Elgin.

The story

How Elgin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elgin.

Read it all →

The area had previously been the home of Sioux and Winnebago Indians. After the 1846 Winnebago Treaty, Indians were forcibly removed from the area by the US military and moved to Minnesota. In the summer of 1848, a flood of white settlers arrived. Matthew Conner built a log cabin and general store and the settlement was first called "Shin Bone Valley." Surveyor K. M. Marcks renamed the town "Elgin" in 1851 in honor of his hometown, Elgin, Illinois. Benjamin Dimond became the postmaster at Elgin in 1852, the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railway came through in 1872, and the Elgin Times newspaper was established in 1875. The town subsequently became a major destination for Swiss immigrants.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Elgin, decade by decade

Today2 recent

2021ElginIowaPopPlot

2004IAMap-doton-Elgin

Every building

Elgin, building by building, 1915

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

1915Sheet 1 of 2

Sheets

+1 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Elgin

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2008

Elgin Block, The

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1

All 1 listings

Elgin Block, TheBuilding · listed 2008

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Elgin, census by census

Between 369 and 702 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Elgin

Nobody well known was born in Elgin itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →

Asle GronnaAmerican politician · b. 1858

Michael T. OsterholmAmerican epidemiologist · b. 1953

Althea ShermanAmerican ornithologist, artist and educator · b. 1853

Dorothy M. JohnsonAmerican writer · b. 1905

Theodore B. WernerAmerican congressman for South Dakota · b. 1892

Tom BenderAustralian basketball player · b. 1944

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Elgin’s post office has been open since 1852.

Gone or out of use

Elginlocale

1cemetery inside Elgin

Elgin

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

Questions about Elgin’s history

What year was Elgin founded?

The Elgin post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Elgin?

One place: the Elgin Block, The (listed 2008).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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