The Garwin post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, De Novo (1879), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 481146 years
Founding year: the first Garwin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Garwin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Garwin was platted in 1880. A post office called Garwin has been in operation since 1880.
In 1879, the Toledo and Northwestern Railroad was sold to the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. After the sale, the railroad line was extended northwestward from Toledo. Various new towns were established along the tracks, but Garwin, Iowa, was the first railroad station beyond Toledo.
Giving the town a name proved to be a difficult process. At first, it was called “Maple,” or as some claim “Myrcle,” but neither name was particularly favorable. The next choice was “Marvin,” in honor of Marvin Hewitt, an official of the Northwestern railroad, but it was soon discovered that another town had already taken the name.
Passages that mention Garwin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Tama County, Iowa, together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history ... and biographies of representative citizens. History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races,1883 · page 584Read the page →
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took two courses at the Medical College at Keokuk, in 1878 and 1879. In March, 1870, he and his brother. Dr. J. W. Graham, came to the village of Garwin, opened an office, and engaged in the practice of medicine, remained in i)artnership until 1881, when J. W. went to Earle, Sac county, this State, wUpre he is now
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Tama County, Iowa, together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history ... and biographies of representative citizens. History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races,1883 · page 547Read the page →
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1865. Downs came to Tama county from Illinois in 1858, and settled with his family in Carlton township, near where Garwin has since been platted. He was 35
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
Garwin, 1879 to 1956
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 (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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