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History · Lewis

Lewis’ post office opened in 1854, and 61% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Rev. George B. Hitchcock House, a National Historic Landmark. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Rev. George B. Hitchcock House, a National Historic Landmark.

1854first post office
2on the National Register
61%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lewis began

When was Lewis founded?

1854

The Lewis post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cold Spring (1849), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 357172 years
Founding year: the first Lewis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lewis’ 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 Lewis are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Lewis’ homes were built before 1938.A National Historic Landmark2 places on the National Register, including Rev. George B. Hitchcock House, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lewis’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lewis’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

Lewis, in brief

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

Lewis is a city in Cass County, Iowa, United States, along the East Nishnabotna River. The population was 357 at the time of the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1854. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 433 to 357 (-18%).

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

On the National Register

2 historic places in Lewis

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmark
1
Rev. George B. Hitchcock House
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Rev. George B. Hitchcock House
Nishnabotna Ferry House, built 1850
Buildings★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
★ Landmark
Rev. George B. Hitchcock HouseBuilding
Nishnabotna Ferry HouseGreek Revival · Built 1850

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

Timeline

Lewis, 1849 to 2006

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Cold Spring post office opens
  3. 1850BuiltNishnabotna Ferry House is built
  4. 1854Post officeThe Cold Spring post office closes
  5. 1854Post officeThe Lewis post office opens
  6. 1889Born hereEdwin Perkins is born here
  7. 21st century
  8. 2006LandmarkRev. George B. Hitchcock House named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Lewis, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Lewis, Iowa2019Lewis, IowaIAMap-doton-Lewis2004IAMap-doton-Lewis
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Lewis’s post office has been open since 1854. Another post office, Cold Spring, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cold Spring
1849–1854
Lewis
1854–today
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Lewislocale

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

Questions about Lewis’ history

What year was Lewis founded?

The Lewis post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Lewis?

Two places: the Rev. George B. Hitchcock House (listed 1977) and the Nishnabotna Ferry House (2001).

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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.