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History · Yarmouth

Yarmouth’s post office opened in 1881, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1981 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Yarmouth began

When was Yarmouth founded?

1881

The Yarmouth post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, La Vega (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 61145 years
Founding year: the first Yarmouth post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Yarmouth’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 Yarmouth are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Yarmouth’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Yarmouth’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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The story

How Yarmouth came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Yarmouth.

Read it all →

The village was laid out by Andrew C Kline after arriving here in 1876 and opening a general store. Around the same time, a blacksmith set up shop here.

In 1881, around the time the Burlington and Northwestern Railway arrived, the La Vega post office, originally about a mile to the east, was moved here and renamed Yarmouth. By 1885, the village had close to 100 residents, and included 3 general stores, a drug store, blacksmith shop, billiard hall, and two churches.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Yarmouth, 1858 to 1981

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe La Vega post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe La Vega post office closes
  4. 1881Post officeThe Yarmouth post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1981On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Yarmouth, decade by decade

Today2 recent
YarmouthIowaSchool2024YarmouthIowaSchoolYarmouthIowaAerialPhoto2024YarmouthIowaAerialPhoto
On the map

Yarmouth on the map in 1981

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

Yarmouth on the 1981 USGS map1981Morning Sun 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 Yarmouth.

Famous people

Famous people close to Yarmouth

Nobody well known was born in Yarmouth itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
James A. Van AllenAmerican astrophysicist · b. 1914
Robert NoyceAmerican physicist, engineer and entrepreneur (… · b. 1927
Wallace CarothersAmerican organic chemist · b. 1896
Aldo LeopoldAmerican writer and scientist · b. 1887
Kurt WarnerAmerican football player · b. 1971
William FrawleyAmerican actor · b. 1887
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Yarmouth’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, La Vega, opened and closed inside today’s town.

La Vega
1858–1881
Yarmouth
1881–today
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Yarmouthlocale

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

Questions about Yarmouth’s history

What year was Yarmouth founded?

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

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.