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History · Larchwood

Larchwood’s post office opened in 1872, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1900.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: TigerPaw2154 at English Wikipedia · Public domain
Quick answers

How Larchwood began

When was Larchwood founded?

1872

The Larchwood post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 450 in 19002020 census: 926154 years
Founding year: the first Larchwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Larchwood’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 Larchwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Larchwood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Larchwood’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Larchwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Larchwood.

Read it all →

Larchwood was founded circa 1872 by a group of McLean County, Illinois land developers: Jesse W. Fell (10 November 1808 – 25 February 1887) and Charles W. Holder (25 September 1819 – 10 April 1900). Fell was born in Pennsylvania, had settled in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1831 and had played an active role in founding many Illinois towns, including Clinton, Normal, Pontiac, and Towanda. He was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, and with his brother Kersey Fell had persuaded Lincoln to write his famous autography. He was nationally known for his love of trees. Holder was a partner in many of Fell's projects, including Towanda and Normal. Holder, Illinois was named in his honor. In the summer of 1869, Fell traveled to northwestern Iowa and selected a tract of about forty sections, more than 25,000 acres (100 km2) of land. Fell wrote, “I have never beheld such a large body of surpassingly be…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Larchwood, 1872 to 1978

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Larchwood post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Born hereEllis Yarnal Berry is born here
  5. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1977Born hereTodd Lippert is born here
  7. 1978Born hereKyle Vanden Bosch is born here
By decade

Larchwood, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Old Klondike Flour Mill, Larchwood, IA 19732011Old Klondike Flour Mill, Larchwood, IA 1973Larchwood IA2009Larchwood IAIAMap-doton-Larchwood2004IAMap-doton-Larchwood
On the map

Larchwood on the map, 1971 to 1985

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

Larchwood on the 1971 USGS mapLarchwood on the 1985 USGS map1971Larchwood sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Larchwood, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020926

Grew from 450 people in 1900 to 926 in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Larchwood

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

See all →
Ellis Yarnal BerryAmerican politician · b. 1902
Kyle Vanden BoschAmerican football player · b. 1978
T
Todd LippertAmerican politician · b. 1977
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Larchwood’s post office has been open since 1872.

Gone or out of use
Larchwoodlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Larchwood
LarchwoodSaint Marys

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

Questions about Larchwood’s history

What year was Larchwood founded?

The Larchwood post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (3), 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) 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.