Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to New Albin

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · New Albin

New Albin’s post office opened in 1872, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Iron Post and the Reburn, Thomas, Polygonal Barn. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
2on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How New Albin began, and where its name came from

When was New Albin founded?

1872

The New Albin post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 423 in 18802020 census: 432154 years

How did New Albin get its name?

New Albin was named for the son of a railroad official, who died from burns after falling into a bonfire.

More on the name

Residents originally wanted to name the community 'Albin'; however, the post office claimed this would cause confusion with the already existing towns of Albia and Albion, so the name 'New Albion' was chosen instead.

Founding year: the first New Albin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about New Albin’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 New Albin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of New Albin’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 683 in 1920; 432 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Albin’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of New Albin.

Read it all →

New Albin was platted in 1872 shortly after the Chicago, Dubuque and Minnesota Railroad had been built through that territory. It was named for the son of a railroad official, who died from burns after falling into a bonfire. Residents originally wanted to name the community 'Albin'; however, the post office claimed this would cause confusion with the already existing towns of Albia and Albion, so the name 'New Albion' was chosen instead.

On May 20, 1895, New Albion was officially incorporated as a city.

Highway 26 (originally Highway 182) was constructed through New Albin in 1936.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

New Albin, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 683

Peaked at 683 in 1920; 432 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

New Albin, 1872 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe New Albin post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910Born hereMilt Gantenbein is born here
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 683
  6. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

New Albin, decade by decade

Today4 recent
New Albin, Iowa2023New Albin, IowaNew Albin Municipal Building2023New Albin Municipal BuildingNewAlbinGrenze2009NewAlbinGrenzeIAMap-doton-NewAlbin2004IAMap-doton-NewAlbin
On the map

New Albin on the map, 1958 to 1976

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

New Albin on the 1958 USGS mapNew Albin on the 1961 USGS mapNew Albin on the 1976 USGS map1958La Crosse sheet · 1:250,000

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

On the National Register

2 historic places in New Albin

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Iron Post
Iron Post
BuildingsObjects
All 2 listings
Iron PostObject · listed 1976Reburn, Thomas, Polygonal BarnBuilding · listed 1986

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about New Albin’s history

What year was New Albin founded?

The New Albin post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in New Albin?

Two places: the Iron Post (listed 1976) and the Reburn, Thomas, Polygonal Barn (1986).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.