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History · Linden

Linden’s post office opened in 1866, and 78% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1900.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
78%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mostly Iowa Edits · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Linden began

When was Linden founded?

1866

The Linden post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Harvey's Mills (1878) and Linn (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 314 in 19002020 census: 200160 years
Founding year: the first Linden post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Linden’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 Linden are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Linden’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Linden.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Linden’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Linden’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

Linden, in brief

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

Linden is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States. The population was 226 in the 2000 census and 200 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1866. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 199 in 2010, 200 in 2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Linden’s post office has been open since 1866. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Linden
1866–today
Harvey's Mills
1878–1882
Linn
1878–1883
18601940today
Gone or out of use
LindenlocaleLinn Post Officepost office

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

Timeline

Linden, 1866 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Linden post office opens
  3. 1878Post officeThe Harvey's Mills post office opens
  4. 1878Post officeThe Linn post office opens
  5. 1882Post officeThe Harvey's Mills post office closes
  6. 1883Post officeThe Linn post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Linden, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Raccoon River Valley Trail2025Raccoon River Valley TrailCity Hall Library2025City Hall LibraryIAMap-doton-Linden2004IAMap-doton-Linden
On the map

Linden on the map, 1952 to 1982

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

Linden on the 1952 USGS mapLinden on the 1982 USGS map1952Panora 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 Linden.

People over time

Linden, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 315

Between 199 and 315 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Linden

Nobody well known was born in Linden itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John WayneAmerican actor · b. 1907
James EllisonAmerican actor · b. 1910
Bob FellerMajor League Baseball player · b. 1918
D
David YoungAmerican politician in Iowa · b. 1968
George A. WilsonAmerican politician · b. 1884
E
Eugenie AndersonAmerican diplomat · b. 1909

Questions about Linden’s history

What year was Linden founded?

The Linden post office opened in 1866, 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), 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.