The story
Read it all →How Whiting came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Whiting.
A post office called Whiting has been in operation since 1873. The city was named for Charles E. Whiting, a local farmer.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Whiting
Whiting’s post office opened in 1873, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1986 on and the census since 1880.
1873first post office
0on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Whiting began
When was Whiting founded?
1873
The Whiting post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, West Fork (1862), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 56 in 18802020 census: 745153 years
Founding year: the first Whiting post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Whiting’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Whiting’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whiting’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Whiting in 1890
Passages that mention Whiting, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monona County, Iowa1890 · page 297Read the page →
Read the text
As early as 1878, the railroad placed a station here, bringing a small building on wheels from Whiting, for use as a depot. In 1884, after the com[)any was solicited in vain for more suitable depot accomodations, William McFarlane and others got up a petition to the State railway commissioners, praying for their interference. The latter, on investigation, finding that there was bu.si-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monona County, Iowa1890 · page 600Read the page →
Read the text
having in company with his brother, purchased some eighty acres of timber land, in Lincoln Township, he moved thither. They engaged at once in hauling wood to Whiting and saw logs to the mill, clearing up the land. Cord wood at that time was very cheap, and the}- delivered over one hundred cords in the town of Whiting, for $1.90 a cord, hauling it seven miles.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Whiting, 1862 to 1986
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Whiting, decade by decade
2018
2012
2012
2004On the map
Whiting on the map in 1986
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Whiting.
1986Sioux City South sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Whiting.
People over time
Whiting, census by census
Between 56 and 762 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Whiting’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Whiting’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, West Fork, opened and closed inside today’s town.
West Fork
Whiting
18601940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Whiting’s history
What year was Whiting founded?
The Whiting post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), Wikipedia, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.