The story
Read it all →How Raymond came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Raymond.
Raymond was platted in 1867. It was a shipping point on the Illinois Central Railroad.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Raymond
Raymond’s post office opened in 1862, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the William Waterfield House. Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1880.
1862first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Raymond began
When was Raymond founded?
1862
The Raymond post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mullarky's Grove (1858), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 122 in 18802020 census: 759164 years
Founding year: the first Raymond post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Raymond’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 Raymond’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Raymond’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 Raymond, 1878–1915
Passages that mention Raymond, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people1915 · page 283Read the page →
Read the text
county which he entered from the government. This was in the year 1852. He at once began to break the sod and turn the furrows in the development of the fields and in time made his one of the valuable farms of the district. The town of Raymond is now situated thereon. Henry P. Rice, Jr., was reared upon that place and at the outbreak of the Civil war enlisted for active service with the Union army, with which he remained until the close of hostilities. He then returned home and soon afterward was married in Independence. Through the succeeding fifteen years he lived upon a farm near Independence and in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Black Hawk County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion ..1878 · page 433Read the page →
Read the text
Under the energetic labors of Rev. W. S. R. Burnett, a convenient parsonage was built in Raymond in 1871. Under the administration of Rev. S. N. Howard, the neat church edifice occupied by the society in Raymond was erected and dedicated Aug. 10, 1873.
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
Raymond, 1858 to 1971
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Raymond, decade by decade
2011
2011
2004On the map
Raymond on the map, 1971 to 1984
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Raymond. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1971Gilbertville 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 Raymond.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Raymond
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
1978
William Waterfield House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Vernacular1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Raymond, census by census
Between 115 and 788 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Raymond’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Raymond
Nobody well known was born in Raymond itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
M
Michele BachmannAmerican politician · b. 1956
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Raymond’s post office has been open since 1862. Another post office, Mullarky's Grove, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mullarky's Grove
Raymond
18501940today
1cemetery inside Raymond
Saint Joseph's
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Raymond’s history
What year was Raymond founded?
The Raymond post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Raymond?
One place: the William Waterfield House (listed 1978).
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 (3), 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.