Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Harvey Railroad Bridge. Below: maps from 1910 on and the census since 1910.
The Harvey post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Harveyville (1882), 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 Harvey’s history is told.
Peaked at 422 in 1920; 236 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harvey’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Harvey yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Harvey is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, its population was 236.
Its first post office opened in 1886. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 235 in 2010, 236 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Harvey, cut from the printed page as they were published.
named Duncan built a flour mill on the Skunk River, aboveOskaloosa, which was the most convenient place for getting wheat milled for several years. In 1844 Andrew Foster built a saw mill on English Creek, not far from the present Town of Harvey, and a little later added a small mill for grinding corn. Babcock's Mill, in what is now Polk Township; Burch's Mill, on the White Breast Creek in the northern part of Kno.wille Township; and Haymaker's Mill, on Cedar Creek near where the town of Bussey now stands, were all in operation by
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Clay is well provided with transportation facilities. The Wabash and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads both enter the township near the southeast corner and run almost parallel to each other to a point near the Town of Harvey, where the latter turns west. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific crosses the northern portion. Durham, Harvey and Tracy are the principal towns.
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 Harvey. 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 Harvey.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Harvey’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Harveyville, 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 Harvey post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Harvey Railroad Bridge (listed 1998).
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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