The Luxemburg post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Allison (1865), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 93 in 19202020 census: 245147 years
Founding year: the first Luxemburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Luxemburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Luxemburg. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Elkader sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Luxemburg.
The story so far
Luxemburg, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Luxemburg yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Luxemburg is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 245 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 246 in 2000. The White Pine Hollow State Forest is located four miles to the northwest of Luxemburg.
Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 240 to 245 (+2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Luxemburg in 1911
Passages that mention Luxemburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
waukee, Wisconsin, and entered St. Francis Seminary, and on December 20, 1871, was ordained to the priesthood. For a time he remained with Rev. Conrad Schulte, at New Vienna, and on February 22, 1872, was summoned to Luxemburg to take charge of the work here and has ever since been thus connected. Much good has been brought about through Father Oberbroekling's efforts in the Master's service, and he is highly esteemed and beloved by all who know him. From May, 1873, to July, 1874, he journeyed
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Dubuque County, Iowa1911 · page 876Read the page →
Read the text
in 1855 by Bishop Smyth. The last church was built in 1884-7 after which the old church of 1855 was devoted to school purposes. St. Francis Xavier church at Dyersville was an offspring of St. Boniface church. So was Holy Trinity at Luxemburg and others. The present church is one of the finest in the west. It cost $80,000, is built of limestone, gothic in style and 172x62 feet.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Luxemburg, 1865 to 1902
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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