The story
Read it all →How Whittemore came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Whittemore.
Whittemore was platted in 1878 in anticipation of the railroad being built through the neighborhood.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Whittemore
Whittemore’s post office opened in 1878, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1880.
1878first post office
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Whittemore began
When was Whittemore founded?
1878
The Whittemore post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 105 in 18802020 census: 497148 years
Founding year: the first Whittemore post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Whittemore’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 Whittemore’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whittemore’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Whittemore, census by census
Peaked at 741 in 1960; 497 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Whittemore’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Whittemore in 1913
Passages that mention Whittemore, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Kossuth County, Iowa1913 · page 612Read the page →
Read the text
The Incorporated town of Whittemore dates back of December 12, 1891, when the measure was decided at the election, which had thirty-nine ballots cast at the polls. The territory then taken into the incorporation was about the same as now comprised in the independent district, and was so large that trouble insued when the farmers were obliged to submit to the town ordinances. After a lapse of some seven years the incorporation was reduced to its present size and the town farmers were made happy.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Kossuth County, Iowa1913 · page 635Read the page →
Read the text
formerly belonged to Algona township, and did until the supervisors carved it out to create Lotts Creek. When the board set it off in January, 1873, it extended one mile and a half farther south than it does now, and it included the village of Whittemore. The organization election was held at the Sod Town schoolhouse February 3, 1873, when the following officers were elected: H. L. Goodrich, clerk ; A. A. Brunson, justice; Peter J. Walker and S. L. Scott, trustees; and Joe DeGraw, constable. The township remained that size until the board in April, 1885, cut off the south mile and a half and gave it to the township of Whittemore
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
Whittemore, 1878 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1878Post officeThe Whittemore post office opens
- 20th century
- 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 741
- 1980
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Whittemore, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2004On the map
Whittemore on the map in 1980
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Whittemore.
1980Whittermore sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Whittemore.
Every building
Whittemore, building by building, 1915
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1915Sheet 1 of 1Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Questions about Whittemore’s history
What year was Whittemore founded?
The Whittemore post office opened in 1878, 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 (1), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.