Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 1880.
The Wiota post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wiota’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Wiota yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Wiota is a city in Cass County, Iowa, United States. The population was 91 at the time of the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 116 to 91 (-22%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Peaked at 246 in 1940; 91 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wiota’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Wiota, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the northeast quarter of section 2, and crosses that section, and sections 3, 4, 9, 1 and 8, leaving the township on the west line of the latter. The town of Wiota, lying within the limits of Franklin township, is the principal shipping point.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1874, in company with his mother, brother and two sisters, Sherman came to Cass county, settling near the town of Wiota. Here he engaged at whatever employment he could find, and for some time earned many spare dimes on the streets of Wiota as a boot-black, to aid in his support. His opportunities for gaining an
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wiota. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wiota.
The Wiota post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.
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