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History · Fonda

Fonda’s post office opened in 1873, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1979 on, and the census since 1880.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fonda began

When was Fonda founded?

1873

The Fonda post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Cedarville (1871) and Marvin (1871), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,684 in 18802020 census: 636153 years
Founding year: the first Fonda post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fonda’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 Fonda’s homes were built before 1941.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Fonda.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fonda’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Fonda came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fonda.

Read it all →

The city of Fonda was originally called Marvin. The name "Marvin", however, was deemed too similar to Manson, Iowa and due to mail being mixed up, town officials changed the name to Fonda in 1874. The name was chosen by messengers A.O. Garlock and George Fairburn who decided a name change was warranted; they felt the name "Fonda" was appropriate as per the Post Office Directory, the nearest municipality sharing the name, "Fonda", is Fonda, New York.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Fonda’s post office has been open since 1873. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cedarville
1871–1873
Marvin
1871–1871
Fonda
1873–today
18701950today
1cemetery inside Fonda
Cedar Township

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Fonda in 1904

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

William Bott, who is still an honored resident of Fonda, superintended the laying of the track ot this first railroad from Iowa Falls to Storm Lake and, as a foreman of track-hands continued in the employ of the railroad company for a number of years afterward. He and his family were
The pioneer history of Pocahontas County, Iowa, from the time of its earliest settlement to the present time1904 · page 248Read the page →
Read the text

William Bott, who is still an honored resident of Fonda, superintended the laying of the track ot this first railroad from Iowa Falls to Storm Lake and, as a foreman of track-hands continued in the employ of the railroad company for a number of years afterward. He and his family were

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
became a part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & Sb. Paul system and later that year it was extended from Fonda to Spencer; a new depot was built at Fonda north of the Illinois Central railroad and a station was established at Varina.
The pioneer history of Pocahontas County, Iowa, from the time of its earliest settlement to the present time1904 · page 301Read the page →
Read the text

became a part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & Sb. Paul system and later that year it was extended from Fonda to Spencer; a new depot was built at Fonda north of the Illinois Central railroad and a station was established at Varina.

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

Fonda, 1871 to 1979

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Cedarville post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Marvin post office opens
  4. 1871Post officeThe Marvin post office closes
  5. 1873Post officeThe Cedarville post office closes
  6. 1873Post officeThe Fonda post office opens
  7. 1881Born hereNathan Post is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1906Born hereRuth Stafford Peale is born here
  10. 1979On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fonda, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Poem delivered before the Montgomery County agricultural society at Fonda, October 9th, 1861Date?Poem delivered before the Montgomery County agricultu…Book
Today6 recent
FondaIowaPopPlot2021FondaIowaPopPlotSunkenLake2006SunkenLakeOldBankBistro2006OldBankBistroFondaCountryside2006FondaCountrysideBigCedarCreek2006BigCedarCreekIAMap-doton-Fonda2004IAMap-doton-Fonda
On the map

Fonda on the map, 1979 to 1984

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

Fonda on the 1979 USGS mapFonda on the 1984 USGS map1979Fonda sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Fonda, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,684

Between 625 and 1,684 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Fonda

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

See all →
Nathan PostGovernor of American Samoa · b. 1881
R
Ruth Stafford PealeAmerican writer · b. 1906

Questions about Fonda’s history

What year was Fonda founded?

The Fonda post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (7), Wikipedia, 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.