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History · Shellsburg

Shellsburg dates to 1854, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1880.

1854founded
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Shellsburg began

When was Shellsburg founded?

1854

Shellsburg dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 547 in 18802020 census: 961172 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1851.

What stands out about Shellsburg’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 Shellsburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18883 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1968. Watch Shellsburg change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Shellsburg.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shellsburg’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Shellsburg on the map, 1888 to 1968

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

Shellsburg on the 1888 USGS mapShellsburg on the 1899 USGS mapShellsburg on the 1968 USGS map1888Shellsburg 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 Shellsburg.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Shellsburg’s post office has been open since 1856. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Potato Hill
1851–1852
Beulah
1852–1856
Shellsburg
1856–today
18501940today

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

The story so far

Shellsburg, in brief

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

Shellsburg is a city in Benton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 961 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Shellsburg was established in 1854. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 983 to 961 (-2%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Shellsburg, 1878–1910

Passages that mention Shellsburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Shellsburg was a village of considerable importance before the railroad reached the town in the Summer of 1870. For three or four years, the timber lying east of the town gave the town a considerable business ; hundreds of car loads of railroad ties and bridge "imber being cut and shipped from this…
The history of Benton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics ..1878 · page 462Read the page →
Read the text

Shellsburg was a village of considerable importance before the railroad reached the town in the Summer of 1870. For three or four years, the timber lying east of the town gave the town a considerable business ; hundreds of car loads of railroad ties and bridge "imber being cut and shipped from this station.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1840, Samuel K. Parker settled in Township 84, Range 9, near a grove since called Parker's Grove. Jacob Bonsall settled in the county in 1840, but after two or three years moved away. Gilman Clark located in the same year about a mile and a half southeast of the present village of Shellsburg. St…
The history of Benton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics ..1878 · page 310Read the page →
Read the text

In 1840, Samuel K. Parker settled in Township 84, Range 9, near a grove since called Parker's Grove. Jacob Bonsall settled in the county in 1840, but after two or three years moved away. Gilman Clark located in the same year about a mile and a half southeast of the present village of Shellsburg. Stedman Penrose came in the same year; also A. D. Stephens, J. W. Filkins, Joseph Remington, and perhaps others.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
lived all his life with the exception of three years from 1883 to 1886, which he spent in ‘the drug business in company with his brother. Upon his returm he spent six years in the same business in Shellsburg. In the spring of 1892 he removed to the farm in Canton township, where he resided a year a…
History of Benton County, Iowa.1910Read the page →
Read the text

lived all his life with the exception of three years from 1883 to 1886, which he spent in ‘the drug business in company with his brother. Upon his returm he spent six years in the same business in Shellsburg. In the spring of 1892 he removed to the farm in Canton township, where he resided a year after the death of his father; he then located in Shellsburg, and he rents his farm of two hundred and fifteen seres.

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

Shellsburg, 1851 to 1888

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Potato Hill post office opens
  3. 1852Post officeThe Potato Hill post office closes
  4. 1852Post officeThe Beulah post office opens
  5. 1854
    FoundingShellsburg is established
  6. 1856Post officeThe Beulah post office closes
  7. 1856Post officeThe Shellsburg post office opens
  8. 1888On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Shellsburg, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Shellsburgs downtown and grocery store2016Shellsburgs downtown and grocery storeLittle free library in shellsbug Iowa - 22016Little free library in shellsbug Iowa - 2Little free library in shellsbug Iowa - 12016Little free library in shellsbug Iowa - 1Bar in shellsbug Iowa2016Bar in shellsbug IowaIAMap-doton-Shellsburg2004IAMap-doton-Shellsburg
Every building

Shellsburg, building by building, 1913

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.

Shellsburg fire insurance map, 1913, sheet 11913Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

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

People over time

Shellsburg, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 983

Between 468 and 983 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Shellsburg’s history

What year was Shellsburg founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata. Shellsburg’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1880 counted 547 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (5), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.