On April 24, 1846, emigrants affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the direction of Brigham Young established a way station halfway into their trek across Iowa. This semi-permanent settlement was named Garden Grove because the entire grove was covered with wild onions as far as the eye could see. Within three weeks of their arrival, the pioneers enclosed and planted 715 acres (2.89 km2). They founded the village to assist those who did not have sufficient means to continue their journey, as well as to support and supply future companies of pioneers.
Peaked at 666 in 1920; 174 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Garden Grove’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Garden Grove in 1915
Passages that mention Garden Grove, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Decatur County, Iowa, and its people1915 · page 153Read the page →
Read the text
Finally they all disappeared, leaving their temporary homes to be occupied by the later emigrants who came to that fruitful land, until now there is no vestige left of the early settlement except the name Garden Grove, which is appropriately perpetuated. During the time of the settlement Garden Grove was a recmiting station for emio-rants coming from Em-ope and the eastern states en route for Utah.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Decatur County, Iowa, and its people1915 · page 161Read the page →
Read the text
The words that follow do not purport to reveal new subject matter, or to contain anything heretofore unknown, but rather to attempt to fix the location of certain landmarks in the earlv history of the Township of Garden Grove, to correct a somewhat hazy conception of the whereabouts of the temple and other matters allied to the early times of this locality. Whenever numbers are used for land sub-division it is understood to apply to the township mentioned above.
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
Garden Grove, 1846 to 1965
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (6), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
2021
2016
2016
2013
2009
2004
