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UniversityParkIowaCommunityCenterPhoto: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · University Park

University Park’s post office opened in 1909, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1920.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From University Park’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How University Park began

When was University Park founded?

1909

The University Park post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 361 in 19202020 census: 487117 years
Founding year: the first University Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about University Park’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of University Park’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start University Park’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how University Park’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 viewUniversity Park Iowa Apr 15 1910: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

University Park, in brief

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

University Park is a city in Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. The population was 487 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1909. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 487 in 2010, 487 in 2020.

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

Timeline

University Park, 1909 to 1968

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe University Park post office opens
  3. 1910In the archiveUniversity Park Iowa Apr 15 1910
  4. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

University Park, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
University Park Iowa Apr 15 19101910University Park Iowa Apr 15 1910
1920s–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
Today3 recent
VennardCollegeCampus2025VennardCollegeCampusUniversityParkIowaCommunityCenter2025UniversityParkIowaCommunityCenterIAMap-doton-UniversityPark2004IAMap-doton-UniversityPark
On the map

University Park on the map, 1968 to 1982

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

University Park on the 1968 USGS mapUniversity Park on the 1982 USGS map1968University Park 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 University Park.

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.

University Park Iowa Apr 15 1910
Retake this viewUniversity Park Iowa Apr 15 1910, 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

University Park, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 645

Between 361 and 645 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to University Park

Nobody well known was born in University Park itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Tom ArnoldAmerican stand-up comedian and actor · b. 1959
Adam YoungAmerican musician and singer-songwriter · b. 1986
Chester ConklinActor, comedian · b. 1886
Karen MorleyAmerican film actress · b. 1909
C
Clyde KingAmerican rear admiral and rower · b. 1898
John HospersAmerican philosopher and politician · b. 1918
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Oskaloosa40 historic placesA+

Questions about University Park’s history

What year was University Park founded?

The University Park post office opened in 1909, 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 (4), 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.