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Harris-Wagon-and-Carriage-ShopPhoto: KEVIN SCHUCHMANN · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · La Motte

La Motte’s post office opened in 1848, and 53% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Harris Wagon and Carriage Shop. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1880.

1848first post office
1on the National Register
53%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How La Motte began

When was La Motte founded?

1848

The La Motte post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1873.

First census: 161 in 18802020 census: 237178 years
Founding year: the first La Motte post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1873.The full story ↓

What stands out about La Motte’s 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 La Motte are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19014 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1984. Watch La Motte change.Old housesHalf of La Motte’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 327 in 1920; 237 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start La Motte’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La Motte’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
On the map

La Motte on the map, 1901 to 1984

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

La Motte on the 1901 USGS mapLa Motte on the 1962 USGS mapLa Motte on the 1972 USGS mapLa Motte on the 1984 USGS map1901Peosta sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How La Motte came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of La Motte.

Read it all →

David Owen Montague arrived in Jackson County, Iowa, from New York in 1838 and settled in the area of La Motte in 1843. The city is named after Alexander La Motte, one of its founders. La Motte was a Frenchman abandoned by his father in New York City prospecting for lead in the area. In 1846, a rail line was run through La Motte, connecting it to Dubuque and Davenport. The next year, 1847, the land that would be incorporated in the city was bought for $1.25 per acre. La Motte was planned in 1873, and the town voted to incorporate in 1879.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about La Motte in 1879

Passages that mention La Motte, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Nothing especially worthy of record has occurred in these times, excepting the building of the new parsonage and reading-room in Bellevue, which begun m May, 1872, and was finished in December, 1872. The Circuit at this time waa composed of Bellevue, Springbrook and La Motte. At the annual Conferen…
The history of Jackson County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., biographical sketches of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion ... history of the Northwest, history of Iowa ... miscellaneous matters,1879Read the page →
Read the text

Nothing especially worthy of record has occurred in these times, excepting the building of the new parsonage and reading-room in Bellevue, which begun m May, 1872, and was finished in December, 1872. The Circuit at this time waa composed of Bellevue, Springbrook and La Motte. At the annual Conference of 1873, La Motte was dropped and Liberty was added to the Bellevue charge, and Isaac C. Turk was appointed as Pastor, and re-appointed in September, 1874. The charge then consisted of Bellevue, Springbrook and Liberty. The Liberty appointment was abandoned in Septem-

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

La Motte, 1848 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe La Motte post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 327
By decade

La Motte, decade by decade

Today4 recent
La Motte landscape2024La Motte landscapeLaMotte-railroad2014LaMotte-railroadHarris-Wagon-and-Carriage-Shop2014Harris-Wagon-and-Carriage-ShopIAMap-doton-LaMotte2004IAMap-doton-LaMotte
On the National Register

1 historic place in La Motte

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
1992
Harris Wagon and Carriage Shop
Harris Wagon and Carriage Shop
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Harris Wagon and Carriage ShopVernacular

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

People over time

La Motte, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 327

Peaked at 327 in 1920; 237 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

La Motte’s post office has been open since 1848.

Gone or out of use
La Mottelocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside La Motte
East HillHoly Rosary

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

Questions about La Motte’s history

What year was La Motte founded?

The La Motte post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1873.

What is on the National Register in La Motte?

One place: the Harris Wagon and Carriage Shop (listed 1992).

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 (4), Wikidata (1), 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), 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.