Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1900.
The Goodell post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Upper Grove (1858), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Goodell’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Goodell yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Goodell is a city in Hancock County, Iowa, United States. The population was 140 at the time of the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1885. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 139 in 2010, 140 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Goodell, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The United Brethren Church of Goodell incorporated in the year 1889 according to law, and filed the articles at the county seat on August 13th. 0. Oleson, Nels Pearson, J. W. Griggs, D. F. Hunt and George W. Elder were the incorporators. The Goodell Methodist Episcopal Church incorporated March 5, 1895; the articles were signed by John Brisco, C. R. Trumbull and Mrs. Etta Brisco.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Goodell. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Goodell.
Between 139 and 254 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Goodell’s Wikipedia page.
Goodell’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Upper Grove, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Goodell post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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
2004