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History · Hills

Hills’ post office opened in 1899, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1910.

1899first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Billwhittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Hills began

When was Hills founded?

1899

The Hills post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hills Siding (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 195 in 19102020 census: 863127 years
Founding year: the first Hills post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hills’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hills are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18914 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1983. Watch Hills change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hills’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hills’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Hills on the map, 1891 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hills on the 1891 USGS mapHills on the 1938 USGS mapHills on the 1965 USGS mapHills on the 1983 USGS map1891Iowa City sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hills.

The story so far

Hills, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hills yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Hills is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 863 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Iowa City Community School District.

Its first post office opened in 1899. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 703 to 863 (+23%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Hills in 1912

Passages that mention Hills, cut from the printed page as they were published.

was succeeded in 18!>;5 by Burdette ('line, and it was during that year that William Droll farmed Mr. Burdette's place. In L904 Louis Kneble opened his blacksmith shop, which he still continues. The town of Hills was incorporated in 1906, the incorporators being Fred C. Hirt, William H. Droll, Jess…
Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa, history1912 · page 471Read the page →
Read the text

was succeeded in 18!>;5 by Burdette ('line, and it was during that year that William Droll farmed Mr. Burdette's place. In L904 Louis Kneble opened his blacksmith shop, which he still continues. The town of Hills was incorporated in 1906, the incorporators being Fred C. Hirt, William H. Droll, Jess Sydell, Charles Mentzer, Joseph Walker, and Albert Frantz.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Stanislaus church, three and one-half miles southwest of Hills. The parsonage at Hills is a fine ten-room brick edifice, begun in the fall of 1905 and completed in 1906. It is modern in every respect and joins the church on the south.
Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa, history1912 · page 808Read the page →
Read the text

Stanislaus church, three and one-half miles southwest of Hills. The parsonage at Hills is a fine ten-room brick edifice, begun in the fall of 1905 and completed in 1906. It is modern in every respect and joins the church on the south.

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

Hills, 1891 to 1899

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Hills Siding post office opens
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1899Post officeThe Hills Siding post office closes
  5. 1899Post officeThe Hills post office opens
By decade

Hills, decade by decade

Today7 recent
HillsIowaPopPlot2021HillsIowaPopPlotPost office2016Post officeA bar restaurant in Hill's Iowa2016A bar restaurant in Hill's IowaHills, Iowa and U.S. Route 2182014Hills, Iowa and U.S. Route 218St. Joseph Church2013St. Joseph ChurchHills, Iowa2008Hills, IowaIAMap-doton-Hills2004IAMap-doton-Hills
People over time

Hills, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020863

Grew from 195 people in 1910 to 863 in 2020, 4 times over.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hills’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Hills

Nobody well known was born in Hills itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
N. K. JemisinAmerican science fiction and fantasy writer · b. 1972
Nate RuessAmerican singer · b. 1982
Hill HarperAmerican actor and political candidate · b. 1966
Allan SandageAmerican astronomer · b. 1926
Phil MorrisAmerican actor · b. 1959
Robin Lord TaylorAmerican actor and director · b. 1978
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Hills’s post office has been open since 1899. Another post office, Hills Siding, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hills Siding
1891–1899
Hills
1899–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Hillslocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Hills’ history

What year was Hills founded?

The Hills post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (7), 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.