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History · Melbourne

Melbourne’s post office opened in 1882, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

1882first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Ashton B Crew · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Melbourne began

When was Melbourne founded?

1882

The Melbourne post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 786144 years
Founding year: the first Melbourne post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Melbourne’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 Melbourne are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Melbourne’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Melbourne’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Melbourne.

Read it all →

The town of Melbourne was platted February 23, 1882, by Milwaukee Land Company, in section 6 of Logan Township and was incorporated December 30, 1895. Melbourne was the only town in Marshall County to be served continuously by two major railroads. Melbourne's growth was rapid and made possible by three railroads and the population increased to 423 by 1910. Melbourne suffered the worst disaster in the town's history when a fire consumed the whole business district in 1903; then in 1981 the southern end of town was destroyed by a tornado.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Melbourne, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Melbourne Iowa 20090215 Rec Complex Sign2009Melbourne Iowa 20090215 Rec Complex SignMelbourne Iowa 20090215 Post Office2009Melbourne Iowa 20090215 Post OfficeMelbourne Iowa 20090215 Memorial2009Melbourne Iowa 20090215 MemorialMelbourne Iowa 20090215 Library2009Melbourne Iowa 20090215 LibraryMelbourne Iowa 20090215 City Hall2009Melbourne Iowa 20090215 City HallIAMap-doton-Melbourne2004IAMap-doton-Melbourne
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Melbourne’s post office has been open since 1882.

Gone or out of use
Melbournelocale

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

Questions about Melbourne’s history

What year was Melbourne founded?

The Melbourne post office opened in 1882, 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 (6), 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.