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History · Whitten

Whitten’s post office opened in 1880, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Whitten began

When was Whitten founded?

1880

The Whitten post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1882.

First census: 195 in 18902020 census: 100146 years
Founding year: the first Whitten post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1882.The full story ↓

What stands out about Whitten’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 Whitten are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 227 in 1940; 100 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Whitten’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Whitten’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whitten’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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People over time

Whitten, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 227

Peaked at 227 in 1940; 100 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Whitten came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Whitten.

Read it all →

C.C. Whitten, an official for the Northwestern Railway System, platted the town in 1880. Whitten was incorporated in 1882 with a population of 350. By 1914, Whitten was proud of its church membership of 170, its schools, three general stores, a blacksmith shop, restaurant, bank, produce house, implement store, and two doctors. In fact, Whitten was never without a doctor until 1973 when Dr. George Blaha died after serving the community for 60 years.

In the early 20th century, the city experienced several devastating fires which destroyed much of the town. The city rebuilt very little.

The Whitten Renagades semi-pro baseball team, managed by James Speas, played for over 2 decades with their final season in 1996.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Whitten in 1883

Passages that mention Whitten, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In 1850 he came to Hardin county and located on section one. Mr. Montz is at present living a retired life at Whitten. He has 240 acres of land, valued at $40 per acre, besides property in Whitten, valued at #800.
History of Hardin county, Iowa, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history ... and biographies of representative citizens1883 · page 917Read the page →
Read the text

In 1850 he came to Hardin county and located on section one. Mr. Montz is at present living a retired life at Whitten. He has 240 acres of land, valued at $40 per acre, besides property in Whitten, valued at #800.

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

Whitten, 1880 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Whitten post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 227
  5. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Whitten on the map, 1954 to 1979

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

Whitten on the 1954 USGS mapWhitten on the 1979 USGS map1954Waterloo sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Whitten.

Questions about Whitten’s history

What year was Whitten founded?

The Whitten post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1882.

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 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 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.