Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Spring Hill

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 · Spring Hill

Spring Hill was first counted by the census in 1880, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1931 on and the census since 1880.

1880first census
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Spring Hill began

When was Spring Hill founded?

1880

Spring Hill first appears in the census in 1880.

First census: 137 in 18802020 census: 68146 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Spring Hill’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 Spring Hill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 489 in 1920; 68 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Spring Hill’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Spring Hill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Spring Hill’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

Spring Hill, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 489

Peaked at 489 in 1920; 68 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Spring Hill, in brief

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

Spring Hill is a city in Warren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 68 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 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 63 to 68 (+8%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Spring Hill, 1879–1908

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

Spring Hill has one school house of two rooms, valued at one thousand dollars. They are now building a house, which will cost over three thousand dollars. They employ one male teacher, at a salary of sixty dollars per month; and one female teacher, at a salary of thirty-five dollars per month. The …
History of Warren County, Iowa1908 · page 304Read the page →
Read the text

Spring Hill has one school house of two rooms, valued at one thousand dollars. They are now building a house, which will cost over three thousand dollars. They employ one male teacher, at a salary of sixty dollars per month; and one female teacher, at a salary of thirty-five dollars per month. The school year consists of nine months. Spring Hill has ninety-three persons of school age. The average attendance is forty-five. The cost of tuition per pupil per month, two dollars and eleven cents.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
mately opened a lumber and flouring mill, in the running of which he was ([uite successful and was doing a good business just previous to his removing to Iowa. In 1850 he disposed of his milling interests and moved to Warren county, where he located on a partly improved farm near Spring Hill. Later…
The history of Warren County, Iowa1879 · page 704Read the page →
Read the text

mately opened a lumber and flouring mill, in the running of which he was ([uite successful and was doing a good business just previous to his removing to Iowa. In 1850 he disposed of his milling interests and moved to Warren county, where he located on a partly improved farm near Spring Hill. Later he sold this and bought a saw and grist mill on North river, which he ran for six years, when he sold it and farmed for a couple of years. He then bought a sawmill in Greenfield township, which he operated until the time of his death, in 1865. His Avife survived him for twenty-seven years and

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
When the railroads were built they played havoc with many villages by missing them. In this case the railroad missed Greenbush, a nice little village located on a beautiful site. Many of the first business houses in Spring Hill were moved there from Greenbush. SPRING HILL BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
The history of Warren County, Iowa1879 · page 308Read the page →
Read the text

When the railroads were built they played havoc with many villages by missing them. In this case the railroad missed Greenbush, a nice little village located on a beautiful site. Many of the first business houses in Spring Hill were moved there from Greenbush. SPRING HILL BUSINESS DIRECTORY.

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.

By decade

Spring Hill, decade by decade

Today3 recent
SpringHillIowaWelcomeSign2025SpringHillIowaWelcomeSignSpringHillIowaAerialView2025SpringHillIowaAerialViewIAMap-doton-SpringHill2004IAMap-doton-SpringHill
On the map

Spring Hill on the map, 1931 to 1972

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

Spring Hill on the 1931 USGS mapSpring Hill on the 1972 USGS map1931Indianola 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 Spring Hill.

Questions about Spring Hill’s history

What year was Spring Hill founded?

The Spring Hill post office opened in 1880, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.