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SunValleyLakeIowaPhoto: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
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History · Sun Valley Lake

Half of Sun Valley Lake’s homes were built after 1991

Most of Sun Valley Lake was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991.

0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
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Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Another post office, Union Hill, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Union Hill Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Sun Valley Lake’s history

Memory lane

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 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.