Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Garrison

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Garrison

Garrison’s post office opened in 1873, and 69% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1971 on, and the census since 1880.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
69%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Garrison’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Garrison began, and where its name came from

When was Garrison founded?

1873

The Garrison post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 255 in 18802020 census: 344153 years

How did Garrison get its name?

Garrison was named for the farmer, Nelson Garrison, who had the post office in his home west of town.

Founding year: the first Garrison post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What stands out about Garrison’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 Garrison’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 482 in 1900; 344 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Garrison’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Garrison’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 viewOld Creamery Theatre: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Garrison, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Garrison yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Garrison is a city in Benton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 344 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was named for the farmer, Nelson Garrison, who had the post office in his home west of town. He owned the property in 1872.

Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 371 to 344 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

People over time

Garrison, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 482

Peaked at 482 in 1900; 344 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Garrison in 1910

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

Garrison ; the company was organized and incorporated im 1909 as a stock company, having a large number of stockholders, all residents of Benton county, and a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. They handle grain, lumber and live stovk, have begun operations successfully, and have a promising …
History of Benton County, Iowa.1910Read the page →
Read the text

Garrison ; the company was organized and incorporated im 1909 as a stock company, having a large number of stockholders, all residents of Benton county, and a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. They handle grain, lumber and live stovk, have begun operations successfully, and have a promising future before them.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Janes Iarwood was quite an extensive live stock dealer here for about thirty years until March, 1908. Built a large elevator in Garrison, which he operated fourteen years, W hen he sold the
History of Benton County, Iowa.1910Read the page →
Read the text

Janes Iarwood was quite an extensive live stock dealer here for about thirty years until March, 1908. Built a large elevator in Garrison, which he operated fourteen years, W hen he sold the

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

Garrison, 1873 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Garrison post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 482
  5. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1982In the archiveOld Creamery Theatre
By decade

Garrison, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Old Creamery Theatre1982Old Creamery Theatre
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
Today2 recent
GarrisonIowaPopPlot2021GarrisonIowaPopPlotIAMap-doton-Garrison2004IAMap-doton-Garrison
On the map

Garrison on the map, 1971 to 1984

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

Garrison on the 1971 USGS mapGarrison on the 1984 USGS map1971Garrison 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 Garrison.

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.

Old Creamery Theatre
Retake this viewOld Creamery Theatre, 1982

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Garrison’s post office has been open since 1873.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Benton Station
Gone or out of use
Garrisonlocale

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

Questions about Garrison’s history

What year was Garrison founded?

The Garrison 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 →
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), 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.