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History · Wellsburg

Wellsburg’s post office opened in 1881, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Chris Neessen House. Below: maps from 1980 on and the census since 1900.

1881first post office
1on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Wellsburg began

When was Wellsburg founded?

1881

The Wellsburg post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 203 in 19002020 census: 720145 years
Founding year: the first Wellsburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Wellsburg’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 Wellsburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Wellsburg’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wellsburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wellsburg’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

Wellsburg, in brief

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

Wellsburg is a city in Grundy County, Iowa, United States. The population was 720 at the 2020 census, a slight increase from 716 in 2000. It is part of the Waterloo–Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named for George Wells, an early settler in the region.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 707 in 2010, 720 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Wellsburg, 1881 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Wellsburg post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Born hereMelvin Fritzel is born here
  5. 1916BuiltChris Neessen House is built
  6. 1917Born hereHarold O. Fischer is born here
  7. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Wellsburg, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Modern, even stylish, water tower serving Wellsburg, Iowa2016Modern, even stylish, water tower serving Wellsburg, …
On the map

Wellsburg on the map in 1980

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wellsburg.

Wellsburg on the 1980 USGS map1980Wellsburg 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 Wellsburg.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Wellsburg

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Chris Neessen House
Chris Neessen House, built 1916
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Prairie School1
All 1 listings
Chris Neessen HouseBuilding · listed 1984

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Wellsburg, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 827

Between 203 and 827 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Wellsburg

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

See all →
H
Harold O. FischerAmerican politician in Iowa · b. 1917
M
Melvin FritzelAmerican football and basketball player and coa… · b. 1906
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Wellsburg’s post office has been open since 1881.

Gone or out of use
Wellsburglocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wellsburg
ShilohWellsburg Reformed Church

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

Questions about Wellsburg’s history

What year was Wellsburg founded?

The Wellsburg post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Wellsburg?

One place: the Chris Neessen House (listed 1984).

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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.