Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Thayer

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 · Thayer

Thayer’s post office opened in 1869, and 77% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1900.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
77%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Thayer began

When was Thayer founded?

1869

The Thayer post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Alaska (1868), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 394 in 19002020 census: 51157 years
Founding year: the first Thayer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Thayer’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 Thayer are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Thayer’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Thayer’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thayer’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
The story so far

Thayer, in brief

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

Thayer is a city in Union County, Iowa, United States. The population was 51 at the time of the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1869. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 59 to 51 (-14%).

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

Timeline

Thayer, 1868 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Alaska post office opens
  3. 1869Post officeThe Alaska post office closes
  4. 1869Post officeThe Thayer post office opens
  5. 1888Born hereDan M. Nee is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Thayer, decade by decade

Today3 recent
ThayerIowaPostOffice2025ThayerIowaPostOfficeThayerIowaAerialView2025ThayerIowaAerialViewIAMap-doton-Thayer2004IAMap-doton-Thayer
On the map

Thayer on the map, 1951 to 1983

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

Thayer on the 1951 USGS mapThayer on the 1983 USGS map1951Afton 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 Thayer.

People over time

Thayer, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 394

Between 51 and 394 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Thayer’s post office has been open since 1869. Another post office, Alaska, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alaska
1868–1869
Thayer
1869–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Thayer’s history

What year was Thayer founded?

The Thayer post office opened in 1869, 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), 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.