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History · Pomeroy

Pomeroy’s post office opened in 1870, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the First National Bank of Pomeroy. Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1880.

1870first post office

1on the National Register

34%homes built before 1940

1famous people

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Quick answers

How Pomeroy began, and where its name came from

When was Pomeroy founded?

1870

The Pomeroy post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 185 in 18802020 census: 526156 years

How did Pomeroy get its name?

Pomeroy was named for Charles Pomeroy, an Iowa politician.

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

What stands out about Pomeroy’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 Pomeroy are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 910 in 1900; 526 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Pomeroy’s homes were built before 1961.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pomeroy’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pomeroy’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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People over time

Pomeroy, census by census

Peaked at 910 in 1900; 526 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Pomeroy came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pomeroy.

Read it all →

Pomeroy was platted in 1870 in anticipation of the railroad being built through the settlement. It was named for Charles Pomeroy, an Iowa politician.

On July 6, 1893, Pomeroy was struck by a tornado that was later estimated to be F5 on the Fujita scale. With a damage path 500 yards (460 m) wide and 55 miles (89 km) long, the tornado destroyed about 80% of the homes in Pomeroy. The tornado killed 71 people and injured 200.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Pomeroy in 1893

Passages that mention Pomeroy, cut from the printed page as they were published.

and, while on the street listening to the report of a party who had been out to the storm-stricken district in the vicin¬ ity of Fonda, someone came up the street giving out the information that the town of Pomeroy had been entirely blown away, and that they wanted all the help they could get to ca… — **The story of a storm, a history of the great tornado at Pomeroy, Calhoun County, Iowa, July 6, 1893 ..**1893Read the page →
Read the text
and, while on the street listening to the report of a party who had been out to the storm-stricken district in the vicin¬ ity of Fonda, someone came up the street giving out the information that the town of Pomeroy had been entirely blown away, and that they wanted all the help they could get to care for the wounded at that place. I went to the depot, where the relief train was in waiting, and offered my services, and, as I had nothing with me but a small pocket
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

**The story of a storm, a history of the great tornado at Pomeroy, Calhoun County, Iowa, July 6, 1893 ..**1893Read the page →
Read the text
For the little town of Pomeroy Has been crushed and ground and tom ; There is not a person saved there, But is left some friend to , mourn.
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

Pomeroy, 1870 to 1979

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

19th century
1870Post officeThe Pomeroy post office opens
20th century
1900CensusPopulation peaks at 910
1910Born hereGordon Prange is born here
1979On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Pomeroy, decade by decade

Today1 recent

2025Pomeroy Track

On the map

Pomeroy on the map, 1979 to 1984

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

1979Pomeroy 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 Pomeroy.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Pomeroy

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2023

First National Bank of Pomeroy

Buildings

All 1 listings

First National Bank of PomeroyBuilding · listed 2023

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

Questions about Pomeroy’s history

What year was Pomeroy founded?

The Pomeroy post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Pomeroy?

One place: the First National Bank of Pomeroy (listed 2023).

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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), 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.

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