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History · Irwin

Irwin’s post office opened in 1882, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Irwin Consolidated School. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1978 on, and the census since 1900.

1882first post office
1on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Irwin’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Irwin began

When was Irwin founded?

1882

The Irwin post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Tibbotville (1880), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 295 in 19002020 census: 319144 years
Founding year: the first Irwin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Irwin’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 446 in 1970; 319 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Irwin’s homes were built before 1946.
★ What stands out · People over time

Irwin, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 446

Peaked at 446 in 1970; 319 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Irwin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Irwin.

Read it all →

The Western Town Lot Company established Irwin in 1881. The town was named for E. W. Irwin, the property owner. Irwin was incorporated in 1892.

In 1963, two United States Air Force B-47E bombers based at Schilling Air Force Base near Salina, Kansas, collided over western Iowa on August 19 and crashed several miles apart near Irwin. All six crewman ejected, but three were killed.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Irwin, 1880 to 1978

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Tibbotville post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Tibbotville post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Irwin post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1941In the archiveShelby County, Iowa. Commercialized entertainment in the village is confined to the movie…
  7. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 446
  8. 1978On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Irwin, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s6 items
Shelby County, Iowa. Commercialized entertainment in the village is confined to the movie house, whi1941Shelby County, Iowa. Commercialized entertainment in …Shelby County, Iowa. Commercialized entertainment in the village is confined to the movie house, whi1941Shelby County, Iowa. Commercialized entertainment in …Shelby County, Iowa. Commercialized entertainment in the village is confined to the movie house, whi1941Shelby County, Iowa. Commercialized entertainment in …Shelby County, Iowa. During the intermission several boys and girls went down to the beer hall for a1941Shelby County, Iowa. During the intermission several …Shelby County, Iowa. Homes in the village are almost all comfortable and well-kept. Beyond this, the1941Shelby County, Iowa. Homes in the village are almost …Shelby County, Iowa. Homes in the village are almost all comfortable and well-kept. Beyond this, the1941Shelby County, Iowa. Homes in the village are almost …
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Irwin on the map, 1978 to 1980

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

Irwin on the 1978 USGS mapIrwin on the 1980 USGS map1978Irwin 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 Irwin.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Shelby County, Iowa. Commercialized entertainment in the village is confined to the movie house, whi
Retake this viewShelby County, Iowa. Commercialized entertainment in the village is confined to the movie house, whi, 1941

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Irwin’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Irwin

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
2002
Irwin Consolidated School
Irwin Consolidated School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Late 19th and 20th Century American Movements1
Irwin Consolidated SchoolLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals

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 and places now gone

Irwin’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Tibbotville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Tibbotville
1880–1882
Irwin
1882–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Irwinlocale

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

Help out

Finish Irwin’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewShelby County, Iowa. Commercialized ent…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Irwin’s history

What year was Irwin founded?

The Irwin post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Irwin?

One place: the Irwin Consolidated School (listed 2002).

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 (6), 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.