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History · Menlo

Menlo dates to 1869, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940

1869founded
0on the National Register
57%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Menlo began

When was Menlo founded?

1869

Menlo dates its founding to 1869 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1868.

2020 census: 345157 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1868.The full story ↓

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

Start Menlo’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Menlo.

Read it all →

Menlo was laid out in 1869. Menlo was first called "The Switch" and then "Guthrie Switch", but it was finally renamed Menlo in order to prevent confusion with Guthrie Center.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Menlo, 1868 to 1884

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Guthrie post office opens
  3. 1869
    FoundingMenlo is established
  4. 1881Post officeThe Guthrie post office closes
  5. 1881Post officeThe Menlo post office opens
  6. 1884Born hereGeorge A. Wilson is born here
By decade

Menlo, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Menlo, IA2020Menlo, IALocomotives of the Iowa Interstate Railroad in Menlo, IA - October 20162016Locomotives of the Iowa Interstate Railroad in Menlo,…Interstate 80 - Iowa2014Interstate 80 - IowaIAMap-doton-Menlo2004IAMap-doton-Menlo
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Menlo’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Guthrie, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Guthrie
1868–1881
Menlo
1881–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Menlo’s history

What year was Menlo founded?

In 1869, according to Wikidata. Menlo’s post office opened in 1868.

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 (4), 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.