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History · Ventura

Ventura’s post office opened in 1895, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1970.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ventura began

When was Ventura founded?

1895

The Ventura post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 543 in 19702020 census: 711131 years
Founding year: the first Ventura post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ventura’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 Ventura are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ventura’s collection

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

Ventura, in brief

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

Ventura is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 711 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area. Ventura is located on the northeastern basin of Clear Lake, making it an area with many lakeside areas.

Its first post office opened in 1895. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 717 in 2010, 711 in 2020.

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Ventura on the map, 1972 to 1985

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

Ventura on the 1972 USGS mapVentura on the 1985 USGS map1972Clear Lake West 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 Ventura.

People over time

Ventura, census by census

0200400600800198020002020Peak: 717

Between 543 and 717 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Questions about Ventura’s history

What year was Ventura founded?

The Ventura post office opened in 1895, 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 →
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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 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.