Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1900.
The Larrabee post office opened in 1887, 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 Larrabee’s history is told.
Peaked at 206 in 1920; 123 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Larrabee’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Larrabee.
A post office called Larrabee has been in operation since 1877. The city was named after William Larrabee, the 13th Governor of Iowa.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Larrabee, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The center of this township is just sixteen miles from the county seat, but has a good market at the new town of Larrabee in the township west — Cedar. In 1885, according to the State census, Spring Township had a population of 316, divided as follows: Native born, 261; foreign born, fifty-five.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
name on section 12. The church edifice, a neat, well-planned frame structure, was dedij cated February 13, 1889. It stands in the village of Larrabee, seats 175 persons, and cost $1,800, with its furniture. It is also used by : the Methodist people of this community.
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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Larrabee. 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 Larrabee.
Larrabee’s post office has been open since 1887.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Larrabee post office opened in 1887, 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 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.
