Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1880.
The Lester post office opened in 1888, 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 Lester’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lester yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lester is a city in Lyon County, Iowa, United States. The population was 296 at the time of the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1888. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 294 in 2010, 296 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lester. 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 Lester.
Grew from 31 people in 1880 to 296 in 2020, 9 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lester’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Lester itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Lester post office opened in 1888, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
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