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History · Massena

Massena’s post office opened in 1886, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

1886first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jcsten at English Wikipedia · Public domain
Quick answers

How Massena began

When was Massena founded?

1886

The Massena post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Smith (1885), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 359140 years
Founding year: the first Massena post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Massena’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 Massena are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Massena’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Massena.

Read it all →

The city of Massena was platted by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad on land purchased from A. Vredenburgh in 1883 and 1884 that included most of Section 33 of Cass County. The incorporated city was platted in 1886. The first meeting of the city council was on March 21, 1887, and a special election was held on December 10, 1887, to enlarge the corporate limits to include all of section 33. The city was platted with the name of "Smith", but the post office authorities refused the name because of another city with a similar spelling.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Massena, 1885 to 1886

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Smith post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Smith post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Massena post office opens
By decade

Massena, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Massena, Iowa2014Massena, IowaEastMain2006EastMainIAMap-doton-Massena2004IAMap-doton-Massena
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Massena’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Smith, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Smith
1885–1886
Massena
1886–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Massenalocale
1cemetery inside Massena
Saint Patricks

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

Questions about Massena’s history

What year was Massena founded?

The Massena post office opened in 1886, 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, 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.