Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1880.
The Keswick post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Keswick’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Keswick.
The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway built a 66-mile branch to What Cheer via Keswick in 1879 The town is named for Keswick, England, the home town of a local woman who had offered lodging to the track-laying crew.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 358 in 1930; 242 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Keswick’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Keswick, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first town laid out was Aurora, situated on sections three and four. In October, 1879, the town of Keswick, on the line of the B., C. R. & N. railway, was laid out; it is situated on sections twenty-one and twenty-two. The present township officers are as follows: Justices of the Peace — T. E. Johns and Thomas Cover.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the opportunities offered brings to them success and wins them a place among the leading men of the community in which they reside. To this class belongs John Axmear, Sr., a prosperous citizen and retired farmer now living in the village of Keswick, Iowa. He was born in Amsterdam, Holland, on the 30th of November, 1822, and was reared and educated in his native land, attending school until sixteen years of age and acquiring a good knowledge of the common blanches of learning. He then clerked in a store for two years,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
he sold the place and came to Iowa, making the journey by team to Adams township, Keokuk county. He entered three hundred and twenty acres of land and to it he added from time to time until he had six hundred acres, part of which was the present town site of Keswick. He continued his farming and stock raising until well advanced in vears. when he retired from active labor, leaving the operation of the
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Keswick. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Keswick.
Keswick’s post office has been open since 1879.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Keswick post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.
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