The story
Read it all →How Popejoy came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Popejoy.
Popejoy was platted in 1880; it was originally called Carleton. Popejoy was incorporated in 1908.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Popejoy
Popejoy dates to 1880, and 54% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1910.
1880founded
0on the National Register
54%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Popejoy began
When was Popejoy founded?
1880
Popejoy dates its founding to 1880 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.
First census: 200 in 19102020 census: 77146 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
What stands out about Popejoy’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 Popejoy’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Popejoy’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Popejoy in 1914
Passages that mention Popejoy, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement1914 · page 302Read the page →
Read the text
Popejoy is a station on the Rock Island railroad. It is located on section 22 and was platted by the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & Northwestern Town Lot Company, per C. J. Ives, president, and E. S. Ellsworth, secretary, on September 28, 1880, as Carleton. The name was afterwards changed to Popejoy. It is now a town of no little importance. The census of 1910 gave it a population of 200. In 1908 it was incorporated. It has two grain elevators, a bank, church, several stores, shops; and secures a good trade from a rich and
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
Popejoy, 1880 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1880FoundingPopejoy is established
- 1888Post officeThe Popejoy post office opens
- 20th century
- 1979
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Popejoy, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2012
2004On the map
Popejoy on the map, 1979 to 1984
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Popejoy. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1979Popejoy sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Popejoy.
People over time
Popejoy, census by census
Between 77 and 207 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Popejoy’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Popejoy
Nobody well known was born in Popejoy itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
G
George ReevesAmerican actor · b. 1914
T
Tom LathamAmerican politician · b. 1948
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Popejoy’s post office has been open since 1888.
Gone or out of use
Popejoylocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Popejoy’s history
What year was Popejoy founded?
In 1880, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Popejoy’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1910 counted 200 people here.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.