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History · Stanton

Stanton’s post office opened in 1870, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: old-book passages.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Stanton began

When was Stanton founded?

1870

The Stanton post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 678156 years
Founding year: the first Stanton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Stanton’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 Stanton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Stanton’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stanton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Stanton’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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The story

How Stanton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stanton.

Read it all →

Stanton was first settled by Swedish immigrants. Stanton is best known for its two water towers, the tanks of which are painted and shaped like a giant coffee pot and coffee cup (billed as "the largest Swedish coffee pot in the world"). These also allude to the fact that Stanton is the hometown of actress Virginia Christine, best known to television viewers as "Mrs. Olsen" in classic commercials for Folgers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Stanton in 1900

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

county. They are scattered all over the county, but the main settlement is in Scott and Frankfort townships, and nearly all the population of the town of Stanton is of Swedish nationality. The Swedish citizens are industrious, frugal, and very many of them quite well to do. Their influence is on th…
Directory, Montgomery County, Iowa, 1899-19001900Read the page →
Read the text

county. They are scattered all over the county, but the main settlement is in Scott and Frankfort townships, and nearly all the population of the town of Stanton is of Swedish nationality. The Swedish citizens are industrious, frugal, and very many of them quite well to do. Their influence is on the side of morality, and,

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
vets ra ak ge. ; S35 “a tat ove Art ~ a ; BAe sacs REA LS 8s . yi ieee own of Stanton is situated in Scott township, about ee peel east of Red the main line of the C., B. & QO. This town was laid out in 1870. and was Imstead, after Malcolm Holm, who owned the land originally. A little later 4 was c…
Directory, Montgomery County, Iowa, 1899-19001900Read the page →
Read the text

vets ra ak ge. ; S35 “a tat ove Art ~ a ; BAe sacs REA LS 8s . yi ieee own of Stanton is situated in Scott township, about ee peel east of Red the main line of the C., B. & QO. This town was laid out in 1870. and was Imstead, after Malcolm Holm, who owned the land originally. A little later 4 was changed to Stanton, which was the original name of Scott township.

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

Stanton, decade by decade

Today4 recent
CramerSchoolRemovedToStantonIowa2025CramerSchoolRemovedToStantonIowaStanton, IA2017Stanton, IAStanton Coffee Pot2017Stanton Coffee PotIAMap-doton-Stanton2004IAMap-doton-Stanton

Questions about Stanton’s history

What year was Stanton founded?

The Stanton post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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 (4), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.