Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Linn Grove

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Linn Grove

Linn Grove’s post office opened in 1877, and 70% of its homes were built before 1940

1877first post office
0on the National Register
70%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bill Whittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Linn Grove began

When was Linn Grove founded?

1877

The Linn Grove post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 163149 years
Founding year: the first Linn Grove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Linn Grove’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 Linn Grove are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Linn Grove’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Linn Grove’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Linn Grove’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

How Linn Grove came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Linn Grove.

Read it all →

A post office called Linn Grove has been in operation since 1877. Linn Grove was named for a grove of linden trees near the town site.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Linn Grove, 1877 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Linn Grove post office opens
  3. 1894Born hereJerry Johnson is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1958Born hereRick Grapenthin is born here
By decade

Linn Grove, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Linn grove iowa2010Linn grove iowaIAMap-doton-LinnGrove2004IAMap-doton-LinnGrove
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Linn Grove

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Jerry JohnsonAmerican football player · b. 1894
R
Rick GrapenthinAmerican baseball player · b. 1958
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Linn Grove’s post office has been open since 1877.

Gone or out of use
Linngrovelocale
1cemetery inside Linn Grove
Barnes Township

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

Questions about Linn Grove’s history

What year was Linn Grove founded?

The Linn Grove post office opened in 1877, 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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.