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History · Redfield

Redfield’s post office opened in 1862, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Redfield GAR Hall. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1880.

1862first post office
1on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mostly Iowa Edits · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Redfield began

When was Redfield founded?

1862

The Redfield post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Mc Kay (1850) and Wiscotta (1855), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 394 in 18802020 census: 731164 years
Founding year: the first Redfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Redfield’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 Redfield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Redfield.Old housesHalf of Redfield’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Redfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Redfield’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Redfield’s post office has been open since 1862. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mc Kay
1850–1855
Wiscotta
1855–1862
Redfield
1862–today
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Redfieldlocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Redfield, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Redfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Redfield is a city, one of two incorporated settlements in Union Township, Dallas County, Iowa, United States, along the Middle Raccoon River. The population was 731 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1862. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 835 to 731 (-12%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Redfield, 1850 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Mc Kay post office opens
  3. 1855Post officeThe Mc Kay post office closes
  4. 1855Post officeThe Wiscotta post office opens
  5. 1862Post officeThe Wiscotta post office closes
  6. 1862Post officeThe Redfield post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Redfield, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Welcome Sign Refield Iowa2025Welcome Sign Refield IowaRedfield Dam2025Redfield DamIAMap-doton-Redfield2004IAMap-doton-Redfield
On the map

Redfield on the map, 1949 to 1982

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

Redfield on the 1949 USGS mapRedfield on the 1951 USGS mapRedfield on the 1982 USGS map1949Adel sheet · 1:62,500

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

Every building

Redfield, building by building, 1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Redfield fire insurance map, 1916, sheet 11916Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Redfield

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
2023
Redfield GAR Hall
Redfield GAR Hall
Buildings
All 1 listings
Redfield GAR HallBuilding · listed 2023

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

People over time

Redfield, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 966

Between 394 and 966 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Redfield

Nobody well known was born in Redfield itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John WayneAmerican actor · b. 1907
P
Peter HedgesAmerican novelist, screenwriter, film director · b. 1962
James EllisonAmerican actor · b. 1910
Bob FellerMajor League Baseball player · b. 1918
D
David YoungAmerican politician in Iowa · b. 1968
George A. WilsonAmerican politician · b. 1884

Questions about Redfield’s history

What year was Redfield founded?

The Redfield 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 Redfield?

One place: the Redfield GAR Hall (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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.