The story
Read it all →How Gruver came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Gruver.
Gruver was laid out in 1899. The town was called Luzon until 1900, when it the name was changed to Gruver.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Gruver
Gruver dates to 1899, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1920.
1899founded
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Gruver began
When was Gruver founded?
1899
Gruver dates its founding to 1899 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.
First census: 118 in 19202020 census: 63127 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1900.The full story ↓
What stands out about Gruver’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 Gruver’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gruver’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
Gruver, census by census
Peaked at 145 in 1980; 63 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gruver’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Gruver in 1917
Passages that mention Gruver, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa1917Read the page →
Read the text
GRUVER The village of Gruver is a station on the Estherville & Albert Lea division of the Rock Island Railroad, seven miles east of Estherville. When first laid out by John and Anna R. Dows, in the summer of 1899, it was named "Luzon," a plat of which was filed with the county recorder
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa1917 · page 113Read the page →
Read the text
In 1892 the Albert Lea & Estherville division of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was built through the township, which stimulated its development. The western boundary is only one mile from the Estherville city limits and the village of Gruver is a station on the railroad, one and a half miles west of the eastern boundary, so that the people of the township have ample shipping facilities for the products of their farms.
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
Gruver, 1899 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1899FoundingGruver is established
- 20th century
- 1900Post officeThe Gruver post office opens
- 1980
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 145
By decade
Gruver, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2021
2004On the map
Gruver on the map in 1980
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gruver.
1980Gruver 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 Gruver.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Gruver
Nobody well known was born in Gruver itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
L
Loren MeyerAmerican basketball player · b. 1972
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Gruver’s post office has been open since 1900.
Gone or out of use
Gruver Post Officepost office
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Gruver’s history
What year was Gruver founded?
In 1899, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Gruver’s post office opened in 1900, and the census of 1920 counted 118 people here.
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, 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.