The story
Read it all →How Osterdock came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Osterdock.
Osterdock got its start in the year 1877, following construction of the railroad through that territory.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Osterdock
Osterdock dates to 1877, and 81% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Mallory Township Bridge. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1910.
1877founded
1on the National Register
81%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Osterdock began
When was Osterdock founded?
1877
Osterdock dates its founding to 1877 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.
First census: 97 in 19102020 census: 43149 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1878.The full story ↓
What stands out about Osterdock’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Osterdock’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Osterdock’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Osterdock on the map, 1902 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Osterdock. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Elkader sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Osterdock.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Osterdock in 1916
Passages that mention Osterdock, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Clayton County, Iowa1916 · page 396Read the page →
Read the text
Father Alazzuchelli to build for him a Catholic church, he again, in the fall of 1835, returned to the valley of the Turkey, and, in company with C. S. Edson, a person well known to old settlers of Clayton, spent the first winter near the town now called Osterdock. In the winter of 1836 a Mr, Finly erected a sawmill on the Little Turkey, near the present town of Millville. He shortly afterward sold out his mill and his claim to Robert Hetfield and Mr. Price. In the erection of this pioneer sawmill, Joseph Quigley, still living in Highland, was the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Osterdock, 1877 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1877FoundingOsterdock is established
- 1878Post officeThe Osterdock post office opens
- 20th century
- 1902
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1958Post officeThe Osterdock post office closes
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the National Register
1 historic place in Osterdock
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1998
Mallory Township Bridge
Structures
Architectural styles listings
Pinned Pratt Pony Truss1
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Osterdock, census by census
Between 35 and 103 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Osterdock’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Osterdock
Nobody well known was born in Osterdock itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and places now gone
Osterdock had its own post office from 1878 to 1958.
Osterdock
18701950today
Gone or out of use
OsterdocklocaleOsterdock Post Officepost office
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Osterdock’s history
What year was Osterdock founded?
In 1877, according to Wikidata. Osterdock’s post office opened in 1878, and the census of 1910 counted 97 people here.
What is on the National Register in Osterdock?
One place: the Mallory Township Bridge (listed 1998).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.