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History · Rossie

Rossie’s post office opened in 1900, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1930.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Rossie began

When was Rossie founded?

1900

The Rossie post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 85 in 19302020 census: 49126 years
Founding year: the first Rossie post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rossie’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 Rossie are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 112 in 1950; 49 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Rossie’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rossie’s collection

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

Rossie, census by census

010019401960198020002020Peak: 112

Peaked at 112 in 1950; 49 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story so far

Rossie, in brief

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

Rossie is a city in Clay County, Iowa, United States. The population was 49 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 58 in 2000. The Rossie post office opened in 1900, closing in 1984.

Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 70 to 49 (-30%).

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

Timeline

Rossie, 1900 to 1984

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Rossie post office opens
  3. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 112
  4. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1984Post officeThe Rossie post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Rossie on the map, 1966 to 1985

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

Rossie on the 1966 USGS mapRossie on the 1985 USGS map1966Greenville 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 Rossie.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rossie

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

See all →
Darleane C. HoffmanAmerican nuclear chemist · b. 1926
Francis H. CaseUnited States Marine · b. 1896
George Alfred CarlsonAmerican politician (1876–1926); Governor of Co… · b. 1876
Joseph N. WelchAmerican lawyer · b. 1890
Nathan E. KendallAmerican politician · b. 1868
Vicki MyronAmerican writer · b. 1947
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Rossie had its own post office from 1900 to 1984.

Rossie
1900–1984
19001960today
Gone or out of use
RossielocaleRossie Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Rossie’s history

What year was Rossie founded?

The Rossie post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.