The story
Read it all →How Jolley came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Jolley.
Jolley was platted in 1883. The town was incorporated in 1895.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Jolley
Jolley’s post office opened in 1883, and 76% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1900.
1883first post office
0on the National Register
76%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Jolley began
When was Jolley founded?
1883
The Jolley post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 266 in 19002020 census: 28143 years
Founding year: the first Jolley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Jolley’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 Jolley’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jolley’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Jolley in 1893
Passages that mention Jolley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The story of a storm, a history of the great tornado at Pomeroy, Calhoun County, Iowa, July 6, 1893 ..1893 · page 121Read the page →
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wires were all down, which necessitated a trip overland to notify people of the disaster and bring relief parties. I volunteered my services, and immediately set out for the neighboring town of Jolley. It was a wild, terrible ride, the wind blowing a gale, the hail falling and the rain pouring down in torrents. But I finally reached my des¬ tination in safety, and inside of two hours had a despatch in Des Moines and other towns.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The story of a storm, a history of the great tornado at Pomeroy, Calhoun County, Iowa, July 6, 1893 ..1893 · page 44Read the page →
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“ Postmaster Mallory, of the town of Jolley, five miles south of Pomeroy, writes that the loud roaring noise was distinctly heard at his place. In his description, Mr.
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.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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Jolley on the map, 1980 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jolley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1980Rockwell City 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 Jolley.
People over time
Jolley, census by census
Between 28 and 300 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jolley’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Jolley’s post office has been open since 1883.
Gone or out of use
Jolleylocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Jolley’s history
What year was Jolley founded?
The Jolley post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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 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.