Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Ryan

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Ryan

Ryan’s post office opened in 1884, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1910.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ryan began

When was Ryan founded?

1884

The Ryan post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bruff (1884), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 511 in 19102020 census: 350142 years
Founding year: the first Ryan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ryan’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 Ryan are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1984. Watch Ryan change.Old housesHalf of Ryan’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ryan’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ryan’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
On the map

Ryan on the map, 1900 to 1984

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

Ryan on the 1900 USGS mapRyan on the 1973 USGS mapRyan on the 1984 USGS map1900Farley sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Ryan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ryan.

Read it all →

Ryan was platted by Arthur I. Flint, J. A. Thomas, and Andrew E. Anderson on August 28, 1888 within Adams Township. The city was incorporated in 1901.

On August 12, 1974, an F4 tornado swept through Ryan, destroying much of the southern part of the community, and injuring 12 people. The tornado severely damaged homes as well as Great Plains Lumber Company, St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and the West Delaware grade school. It was estimated that the tornado caused $2.5 million in damage.

Since the Iowa Highway 13 bypass was constructed, the city has annexed a small portion of land east of Adams Street (which follows the township line) from Hazel Green Township.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ryan, 1884 to 1900

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Bruff post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Bruff post office closes
  4. 1884Post officeThe Ryan post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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
People over time

Ryan, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 511

Between 341 and 511 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Ryan’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Bruff, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bruff
1884–1884
Ryan
1884–today
18801950today

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

Questions about Ryan’s history

What year was Ryan founded?

The Ryan post office opened in 1884, 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 →
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 Wikipedia, 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.