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History · Terril

Terril’s post office opened in 1896, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1900.

1896first post office
0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Terril’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Terril began

When was Terril founded?

1896

The Terril post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 217 in 19002020 census: 334130 years
Founding year: the first Terril post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Terril’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Terril’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 452 in 1940; 334 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Terril’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCorner bedroom in Clifford Blum's farmh…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Terril, in brief

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

Terril is a city in Dickinson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 334 at the time of the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1896. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 367 to 334 (-9%).

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

People over time

Terril, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 452

Peaked at 452 in 1940; 334 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Timeline

Terril, 1896 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1896Post officeThe Terril post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915Born hereGlenn Henry is born here
  5. 1926Born hereDarleane C. Hoffman is born here
  6. 1936In the archiveCorner bedroom in Clifford Blum's farmhouse near Terril, Iowa
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 452
  8. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Terril, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s2 items
Corner bedroom in Clifford Blum's farmhouse near Terril, Iowa1936Corner bedroom in Clifford Blum's farmhouse near Terr…Two-room home of Clifford Blum farm, one hundred thirty acres. Rents farm from active farmer. Crop share lease, half co…1936Two-room home of Clifford Blum farm, one hundred thir…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Terril on the map, 1972 to 1985

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

Terril on the 1972 USGS mapTerril on the 1985 USGS map1972Terril sheet · 1:24,000

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Corner bedroom in Clifford Blum's farmhouse near Terril, Iowa
Retake this viewCorner bedroom in Clifford Blum's farmhouse near Terril, Iowa, 1936

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Terril’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Terril

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Darleane C. HoffmanAmerican nuclear chemist · b. 1926
G
Glenn HenryMusical artist · b. 1915
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Terril’s post office has been open since 1896.

Gone or out of use
Terrillocale

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

Questions about Terril’s history

What year was Terril founded?

The Terril post office opened in 1896, 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 the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.