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History · Exira

Exira’s post office opened in 1856, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Audubon County Courthouse and the John D. Bush House. Its Register listings are the Audubon County Courthouse and the John D. Bush House. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1910 on.

1856first post office
2on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Exira’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Exira began

When was Exira founded?

1856

The Exira post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1857.

2020 census: 787170 years
Founding year: the first Exira post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1857.The full story ↓

What stands out about Exira’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Exira’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Exira’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewE.C. Wilson house in: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Exira came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Exira.

Read it all →

The oldest town in Audubon County, Exira was founded in 1857. The town was named for Exira Eckman, daughter of Judge John Eckman from Ohio, who agreed to purchase a lot of property in the town if the town was named for his daughter.

The main industries in and around Exira are agriculture and agribusiness. Exira has a school, completed in 1959. There are four churches in the town.

On July 2, 1958, Exira was ravaged by the flooding of the East Nishnabotna River. Nineteen persons in the area lost their lives, 75 homes were destroyed and almost 20 businesses in the western part of Exira were damaged.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Exira, 1856 to 1938

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Exira post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910In the archiveE.C. Wilson house in
  5. 1936Born hereJack Pardee is born here
  6. 1938Born hereDavid R. Hansen is born here
By decade

Exira, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
E.C. Wilson house inc. 1910E.C. Wilson house in
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
ExiraIowaPopPlot2021ExiraIowaPopPlotExira, IA2020Exira, IAJohn D. Bush House2017John D. Bush HouseIAMap-doton-Exira2004IAMap-doton-Exira
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

E.C. Wilson house in
Retake this viewE.C. Wilson house in, c. 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Exira’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Exira

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Audubon County Courthouse
Audubon County CourthouseJohn D. Bush House
Buildings
Audubon County CourthouseBuilding
John D. Bush HouseBuilding

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Exira

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
David R. HansenUnited States federal judge · b. 1938
Jack PardeeAmerican football player and coach · b. 1936
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Exira’s post office has been open since 1856.

Gone or out of use
Exiralocale

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

Questions about Exira’s history

What year was Exira founded?

The Exira post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1857.

What is on the National Register in Exira?

Two places: the Audubon County Courthouse (listed 1977) and the John D. Bush House (1991).

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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.