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History · Ottosen

Ottosen’s post office opened in 1895, and 80% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1910.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
80%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brandonrush · Public domain
Quick answers

How Ottosen began

When was Ottosen founded?

1895

The Ottosen post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1906.

First census: 147 in 19102020 census: 40131 years
Founding year: the first Ottosen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1906.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ottosen’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 Ottosen are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Ottosen’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 234 in 1920; 40 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ottosen’s collection

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

From Wikipedia’s history of Ottosen.

Read it all →

Ottosen, Iowa was founded in 1896 when Chris Ottosen, a grain dealer in Russel Switch, Iowa petitioned the postmaster general to have a post office. It was rejected because of a similar name in use, so Senator Dolliver resubmitted it under the name of Ottosen. Much of the town burned in a fire in the mid 20th century and was never rebuilt.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Ottosen, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 234

Peaked at 234 in 1920; 40 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Timeline

Ottosen, 1895 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe Ottosen post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 234
  5. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ottosen, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Ottosen Iowa2010Ottosen IowaIAMap-doton-Ottosen2004IAMap-doton-Ottosen
On the map

Ottosen on the map in 1980

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ottosen.

Ottosen on the 1980 USGS map1980West Bend sheet · 1:24,000

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

Questions about Ottosen’s history

What year was Ottosen founded?

The Ottosen post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1906.

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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.