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History · Leighton

Leighton’s post office opened in 1865, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1910 on and the census since 1880.

1865first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Leighton began

When was Leighton founded?

1865

The Leighton post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 145 in 18802020 census: 158161 years
Founding year: the first Leighton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Leighton’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 Leighton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Leighton’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leighton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leighton’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
The story so far

Leighton, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Leighton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Leighton is a city in Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. The population was 158 in the 2020 United States census, an increase from 153 in the 2000 United States census.

Its first post office opened in 1865. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 162 to 158 (-2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Leighton, 1865 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865Post officeThe Leighton post office opens
  3. 1899Born hereGerrit Van Roekel is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Leighton, decade by decade

Today3 recent
LeightonIowaWelcomSign2025LeightonIowaWelcomSignLeightonIowaEbenezerChurch2025LeightonIowaEbenezerChurchIAMap-doton-Leighton2004IAMap-doton-Leighton
On the map

Leighton on the map, 1910 to 1980

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

Leighton on the 1910 USGS mapLeighton on the 1980 USGS map1910Pella sheet · 1:62,500

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

People over time

Leighton, census by census

010018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 167

Between 115 and 167 people in every census since 1880.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Leighton’s post office has been open since 1865.

Gone or out of use
Leightonlocale

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

Questions about Leighton’s history

What year was Leighton founded?

The Leighton post office opened in 1865, 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), 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.