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History · Maloy

Maloy’s post office opened in 1880, and 77% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1910.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
77%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Maloy began

When was Maloy founded?

1880

The Maloy post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1887. Another post office, Delphi (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 127 in 19102020 census: 22146 years
Founding year: the first Maloy post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1887.The full story ↓

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

Start Maloy’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Maloy’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Maloy came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Maloy.

Read it all →

Settlement of the western part of Ringgold County began in the 1850s. Maloy was platted in 1887, in the same year as the railroad arrived. Maloy was incorporated as a city in 1901. In 1917, the two-story brick Maloy High School was built; after serving from 1920 to 1952, it became an elementary school in the Mount Ayr Community School District.

A major fire on June 17, 1931, razed the Catholic Church, five businesses, a house, and a barn. The school closed in 1972 and was torn down in 1987. The railroad, which once offered both freight and passenger service, was dismantled in 1985.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Maloy, 1878 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Delphi post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Delphi post office closes
  4. 1880Post officeThe Maloy post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Maloy, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Maloy, IA2019Maloy, IAIAMap-doton-Maloy2004IAMap-doton-Maloy
On the map

Maloy on the map, 1940 to 1981

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

Maloy on the 1940 USGS mapMaloy on the 1981 USGS map1940Blockton 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 Maloy.

People over time

Maloy, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 127

Between 22 and 127 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Maloy

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

See all →
Bourke B. HickenlooperAmerican politician · b. 1896
F
Frank E. LucasAmerican politician · b. 1876
Spencer BrownAmerican football offensive tackle · b. 1998
Phil S. GibsonAmerican judge · b. 1888
B
Ben A. JonesAmerican horse trainer · b. 1882
C
Cecil DolecheckAmerican politician · b. 1951
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Maloy’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Delphi, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Delphi
1878–1880
Maloy
1880–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
MaloylocaleMaloy Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Maloy’s history

What year was Maloy founded?

The Maloy post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1887.

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, 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.