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History · Galva

Galva’s post office opened in 1877, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1900.

1877first post office
0on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Galva began

When was Galva founded?

1877

The Galva post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Clarendon (1884), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 456 in 19002020 census: 435149 years
Founding year: the first Galva post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Galva’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 Galva are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Galva’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Galva’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Galva came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Galva.

Read it all →

Galva was named after Galva, Illinois, the former hometown of a large share of its early settlers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Galva, 1877 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Galva post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Clarendon post office opens
  4. 1887Post officeThe Clarendon post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Galva, decade by decade

Today2 recent
GalvaIowaPopPlot2021GalvaIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Galva2004IAMap-doton-Galva
On the map

Galva on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Galva on the 1969 USGS mapGalva on the 1985 USGS map1969Galva 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 Galva.

People over time

Galva, census by census

01002003004005006001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 539

Between 357 and 539 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Galva’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Clarendon, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Galva
1877–today
Clarendon
1884–1887
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Galvalocale
1cemetery inside Galva
Galva Township Cemetery East

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

Questions about Galva’s history

What year was Galva founded?

The Galva post office opened in 1877, 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 →
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.