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History · Marne

Marne’s post office opened in 1875, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1900.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Marne began

When was Marne founded?

1875

The Marne post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 410 in 19002020 census: 110151 years
Founding year: the first Marne post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Marne’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Marne’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 Marne came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Marne.

Read it all →

Marne got its beginnings when, in 1875, German investors from a settlement in Davenport, Iowa filed papers and plotted land purchased from Thomas Meredith. The city's name is taken from that of Marne, Germany.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Marne, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Marne, Iowa2019Marne, IowaDetailed map of2010Detailed map ofMapIAMap-doton-Marne2004IAMap-doton-Marne
On the map

Marne on the map, 1971 to 1985

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

Marne on the 1971 USGS mapMarne on the 1985 USGS map1971Atlantic sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Marne.

People over time

Marne, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 410

Between 110 and 410 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Marne

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

See all →
Richard BeymerAmerican actor · b. 1938
Neville BrandAmerican actor · b. 1920
Kij JohnsonAmerican writer · b. 1960
C
C. W. McCallAmerican singer, activist and politician · b. 1928
E
Eugenie AndersonAmerican diplomat · b. 1909
Lynn ReynoldsAmerican film director and screenwriter · b. 1889
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Marne’s post office has been open since 1875.

Gone or out of use
Marnelocale

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

Questions about Marne’s history

What year was Marne founded?

The Marne post office opened in 1875, 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 →
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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), 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.