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History · Lansing

Lansing’s post office opened in 1849, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 42 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers from 1908 on.

1849first post office
6on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lansing’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lansing began

When was Lansing founded?

1849

The Lansing post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1851.

2020 census: 968177 years
Founding year: the first Lansing post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1851.The full story ↓

What stands out about Lansing’s past

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

A historic districtThe Lansing Main Street Historic District takes in 42 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Lansing.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

6 listings protect 49 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
49
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Lansing Stone School
Lansing Stone SchoolKerndt G., and Brothers Elevator and Warehouses, No. 11, No.12 and No. 13Kerndt, G., & Brothers Office BlockOld Allamakee County CourthouseLansing Fisheries BuildingLansing Main Street Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Commercial1
Greek Revival1
Utilitarian1
Lansing Stone SchoolBuilding
Kerndt G., and Brothers Elevator and Warehouses, No. 11, No.12 and No. 13Building
Kerndt, G., & Brothers Office BlockCommercial
Old Allamakee County CourthouseGreek Revival
Lansing Fisheries BuildingUtilitarian
Lansing Main Street Historic DistrictDistrict

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

Timeline

Lansing, 1849 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Lansing post office opens
  3. 1894Born hereArnold Kegel is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908In the archive"This is the kind we catch
  6. 1910In the archiveA section of Lansing, Iowa
  7. 1918Born hereEdwin G. Krebs is born here
The story

How Lansing came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lansing.

Read it all →

Lansing was platted circa 1851. The city was so named because the first settler was a native of Lansing, Michigan. Lansing became incorporated as a city on July 1, 1867.

Joseph "Diamond Jo" Reynolds, namesake of the famous Diamond Jo steamship line, built his first boat in Lansing and named it for the town.

On December 20, 2025, the Black Hawk Bridge was demolished using explosives due to unsafe conditions such as shaking and creaking on the 94 year old bridge.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Lansing, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s5 items
"This is the kind we catch1908"This is the kind we catchA section of Lansing, Iowa1910A section of Lansing, IowaLansing, Iowa, Mt. Homer in the background1910Lansing, Iowa, Mt. Homer in the backgroundLansing, IA1910Lansing, IALansing, Iowa (1913)1913Lansing, Iowa (1913)
1920s–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
Today1 recent
IAMap-doton-Lansing2004IAMap-doton-Lansing
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.

"This is the kind we catch
Retake this view"This is the kind we catch, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Lansing

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
E
Edwin G. KrebsAmerican biochemist · b. 1918
A
Arnold KegelAmerican gynecologist · b. 1894
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lansing’s post office has been open since 1849.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Lansing Valley Mobile City
Gone or out of use
Stone Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Lansing
Heminway

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

Help out

Finish Lansing’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view"This is the kind we catch: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Lansing’s history

What year was Lansing founded?

The Lansing post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1851.

What is on the National Register in Lansing?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Lansing Stone School (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Lansing Main Street Historic District, with 42 contributing buildings. 49 historic buildings in all.

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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.