The Kanawha post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Luzon (1899), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 398 in 19102020 census: 658127 years
Founding year: the first Kanawha post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Kanawha’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Kanawha was platted in 1899. The newly constructed railroad had arrived from Belmond, Iowa. Businesses and some buildings moved from settlements three to four miles distant to establish in the new town on the railroad. Those settlements were Cuba, to the north, Magor, to the northwest, Mikesville, to the southwest, Aldrich, to the south (Drew, moved and renamed Bruce, was farther south), West Lake, to the east, and Bailey's Grove to the north east. Kanawha's founder, George Casper Call, petitioned Congressman J.P. Dolliver requesting a post office and proposing the name "Luzon". Luzon was rejected because it was thought to be too close to the name of an existing Iowa, Luzerne in Benton County. Faced with having to find another name, a railroad engineer and West Virginia native, suggested "Kanawha". The name met with approval.
Passages that mention Kanawha, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement ..1917 · page 285Read the page →
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In 1902 the town of Kanawha incorporated, filing a petition for the same on September 24th. This petition was signed by the following citizens : G. M. Dempsey, F. M. Hanson, 0. W. Phelps, P. L.
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History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement ..1917 · page 284Read the page →
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KANAWHA One of the most progressive small towns in this part of Iowa is Kanawha (pronounced Ka-now'-wha). Kanawha was platted and surveyed in the year 1899. The official plat was filed at the office
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
Kanawha, 1899 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
