The story
Read it all →How Essex came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Essex.
Essex was platted in 1870 in Pierce Township. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad arrived in Essex in 1871.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0–Not graded
History · Essex
Essex’s post office opened in 1870, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Iowan's Hotel. Below: maps from 1978 on and the census since 1880.
1870first post office
1on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Essex began
When was Essex founded?
1870
The Essex post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 617 in 18802020 census: 722156 years
Founding year: the first Essex post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Essex’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Essex’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Essex’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Essex, census by census
Peaked at 1,001 in 1980; 722 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Essex’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Essex, 1880–1909
Passages that mention Essex, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Biographical history of Page County, Iowa, containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each1890 · page 826Read the page →
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in the mercantile trade with M. A. Jones and continued the enterprise three years; at the end of this period he bought a farm west of Essex, but again in 1874 he entered the mer¬ cantile business at Essex, in which he con¬ tinued six years. In connection with his store in Essex he also managed a branch of the business at Coburg, Iowa. In 1882 he
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.![The city of Essex was founded in 1872, and became an incorporated town three years later, on December 10, 1875. The petition which led to this result was filed on September 5, ] 875. On the vote to decide whether the town should incorporate, there were cast in favor 54 votes, against 28 votes. In t…](https://images.townratings.com/story/5733/bk-b381bcac1f4ffba7-l.jpg)
History of Page County, Iowa1880 · page 588Read the page →
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The city of Essex was founded in 1872, and became an incorporated town three years later, on December 10, 1875. The petition which led to this result was filed on September 5, ] 875. On the vote to decide whether the town should incorporate, there were cast in favor 54 votes, against 28 votes. In the first city election held in March, 1876, the following officers were elected: Mayor — H. T. Burdick. Recorder — C. Cummins. Treasurer — O. A.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Biographical history of Page County, Iowa, containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each1890 · page 365Read the page →
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Essex is a small but thriving incorporated town of about 700 population, which is located on section 26 of Pierce Township, and which was platted by J. N. Denison, trustee, September 15, 1870. It is an important station on the Red Oak branch of the Chica¬ go, Burlington & Quincy Railway. It was incorporated in 1873. The first commercial
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History of Page County, Iowa1909 · page 425Read the page →
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Essex is reached by the Chicago, Ihu-lington & Ouincy Railroad, being situated upon the Nebraska City branch running from Red Oak to Lincoln, and owing to the almost perfectly level road bed, doing a very large part of the freight business of this greatest of railroad systems traversing Iowa. The railroad runs within a few rods of the business center of the town. The nearest towns are Shenandoah, eight miles by wagon road southwest. Imogene, eight miles northwest and Red Oak, fourteen miles north. On the east and southeast are no towns nearer than Clarinda and
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
Essex, 1870 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1870Post officeThe Essex post office opens
- 20th century
- 1978
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,001
By decade
Essex, decade by decade
2021
2017
2004On the map
Essex on the map, 1978 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Essex. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1978Shenandoah East 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 Essex.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Essex
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2009
Iowan's Hotel
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Colonial Revival1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Essex’s history
What year was Essex founded?
The Essex post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Essex?
One place: the Iowan's Hotel (listed 2009).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), 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 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.