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History · Glenwood

Glenwood dates to 1868, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1880.

1868founded
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Glenwood began

When was Glenwood founded?

1868

Glenwood dates its founding to 1868 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 523 in 18802020 census: 181158 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1869.The full story ↓

What stands out about Glenwood’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 Glenwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Glenwood’s homes were built before 1949.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Glenwood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Glenwood’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 Glenwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Glenwood.

Read it all →

The town of Glenwood was laid out by Alexander and Stiles Forsha in November 1868 with the plat consisting of a town square and forty-four other blocks. The first home had been built in the town the previous month by John B. Glaze. By 1869, a schoolhouse had been constructed as well as a two-story block of brick buildings with room for four businesses. Being at the crossing point of two railroads, the St. Louis, Kansas City & Nebraska Railroad and the Keokuk & Western railway, Glenwood saw rapid early growth. By 1873, the town included a large woolen factory, a flour mill, foundry, machine shop, wagon factory and a multitude of other businesses. The Glenwood Citerion newspaper began publication in 1870 and Logan's Bank, the town's first, was established in 1875.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Glenwood, 1868 to 1979

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868
    FoundingGlenwood is established
  3. 1869Post officeThe Glenwood post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1979On 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

Glenwood on the map, 1979 to 1981

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

Glenwood on the 1979 USGS mapGlenwood on the 1981 USGS map1979Lancaster 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 Glenwood.

People over time

Glenwood, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 523

Between 181 and 523 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Glenwood’s post office has been open since 1869.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Glenwood Junction
1cemetery inside Glenwood
Glenwood

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

Questions about Glenwood’s history

What year was Glenwood founded?

In 1868, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Glenwood’s post office opened in 1869, and the census of 1880 counted 523 people here.

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) 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.