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– Not graded History · Smithfield
Smithfield’s post office opened in 1868, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940 Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1880.
1868 first post office
0 on the National Register
47% homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Smithfield began When was Smithfield founded? 1868
The Smithfield post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 118 in 1880 2020 census: 191 158 years
What stands out about Smithfield’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 Smithfield’s collection The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Smithfield’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos 00s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album. People over time
Smithfield, census by census 0 100 200 300 400 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020 Peak: 420 Peaked at 420 in 1900; 191 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Smithfield’s Wikipedia page.
The story How Smithfield came to be From Wikipedia’s history of Smithfield.
Read it all → Smithfield was once serviced by TP&W (Toledo, Peoria And Western Railway) before sold to KJRY (Keokuk Junction Railway).
Smithfield once had a grocery story, Bank, Hardware Store and Railroad Depot. The Bank is now the Historic Museum as well as the Red Brick School.
The Village once contained a Jail. The old jail cells can be seen in the Red Brick School parking lot.
Text from Wikipedia , licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 .
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.
On the map Smithfield on the map, 1918 to 1948 Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Smithfield. 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 Smithfield.
Famous people Famous people close to Smithfield Nobody well known was born in Smithfield itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
See all → Places that used to be Places now gone Smithfield’s post office has been open since 1868.
Gone or out of use Smithfield Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Smithfield’s history What year was Smithfield founded? The Smithfield post office opened in 1868, 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
What used to stand where something else is now in Smithfield? → Who remembers Smithfield in the 1950s? → A family story from old Smithfield → Does anyone have photos of Smithfield from the 1990s? → 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) 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.
