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History · Holy Cross

Holy Cross’ post office opened in 1899, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Western Hotel. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1900.

1899first post office
1on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Holy Cross began

When was Holy Cross founded?

1899

The Holy Cross post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Pin Oak (1844), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 115 in 19002020 census: 356127 years
Founding year: the first Holy Cross post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Holy Cross’ 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 Holy Cross are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Holy Cross’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Holy Cross, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020143 in 1910Low: 98

Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Holy Cross came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Holy Cross.

Read it all →

Originally the community was settled by Irish and German immigrants in the early 19th century. The settlement became known as Pin Oak in 1844, the name originating from the many pin oak trees native to the area and after the rural post office located near there.

In 1855 the settlement's name changed again, to Georgetown. This name honored George Gallon, who offered to donate part of his land to build a town. In 1898 the name was once again changed to Holy Cross.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Holy Cross, 1844 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844Post officeThe Pin Oak post office opens
  3. 1899Post officeThe Pin Oak post office closes
  4. 1899Post officeThe Holy Cross post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 374
By decade

Holy Cross, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Holy CrossIowaPopPlot2021Holy CrossIowaPopPlotHoly Cross, Iowa2016Holy Cross, IowaIAMap-doton-HolyCross2004IAMap-doton-HolyCross
On the map

Holy Cross on the map, 1957 to 1981

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

Holy Cross on the 1957 USGS mapHoly Cross on the 1961 USGS mapHoly Cross on the 1976 USGS mapHoly Cross on the 1981 USGS map1957Holy Cross sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Holy Cross

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Western Hotel
Western Hotel
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Salt Box1
Western HotelSalt Box

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Holy Cross’s post office has been open since 1899. Another post office, Pin Oak, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pin Oak
1844–1899
Holy Cross
1899–today
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Holy Cross Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Holy Cross
Holy Cross

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

Questions about Holy Cross’ history

What year was Holy Cross founded?

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

What is on the National Register in Holy Cross?

One place: the Western Hotel (listed 1976).

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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.