The story
Read it all →How Geneva came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Geneva.
Geneva was platted in 1871, and it was incorporated as a town in 1903.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Geneva
Geneva’s post office opened in 1858, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1910.
1858first post office
0on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Geneva began
When was Geneva founded?
1858
The Geneva post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1871.
First census: 199 in 19102020 census: 136168 years
Founding year: the first Geneva post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1871.The full story ↓
What stands out about Geneva’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Geneva’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Geneva’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Geneva, census by census
Peaked at 268 in 1940; 136 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Geneva’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Geneva in 1914
Passages that mention Geneva, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement1914 · page 313Read the page →
Read the text
W. B. Johnson became a citizen of this township in 1874. His parents were W. B. and Lydia H. Johnson, who were pioneers of Franklin county, settling in Geneva township in 1855 on the present site of the depot at the village of Geneva. The senior Johnson was the first mail carrier from Maysville to Cedar Falls. Soon after locating in the township W. B. Johnson secured a tract of land on section 6, where he made his home.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement1914Read the page →
Read the text
There are cottonwood trees there which he set out, that are three feet in diameter. He is one of the old settlers and can tell many interesting things of the early days in the county.* I went down through the live town of Geneva and was surprised at the life and the business I saw there. Geneva has entered upon a new era of prosperity and with the sort of business men she has and the fine country surrounding, is sure to keep pace with the best towns of her class. They were getting ready for their Bean Day festival
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
Geneva, 1858 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1858Post officeThe Geneva post office opens
- 20th century
- 1927
Born hereAlan Thompson is born here - 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 268
- 1979
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Geneva, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2021
2004On the map
Geneva on the map, 1979 to 1984
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Geneva. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1979Hampton South sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Geneva.
Questions about Geneva’s history
What year was Geneva founded?
The Geneva post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1871.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, 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.