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History · Komensky

12% of Komensky’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Black Hawk Powwow Grounds. Below: maps from 1970 on.

1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Komensky’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 Komensky are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Komensky, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Komensky’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Komensky’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Waterbury
1883–1888
Clay
1897–1916
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClayWaterburyWinnebago Mission
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Komensky
DecorahKomensky

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

The story

How Komensky came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Komensky.

Read it all →

The town was formed out of a portion of Brockway town in 1913.

The town was named after Jan Amos Komenský (1592–1670), a Czech educator and Christian leader.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Komensky, 1883 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Waterbury post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Waterbury post office closes
  4. 1897Post officeThe Clay post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1916Post officeThe Clay post office closes
  7. 1970On 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.
Add from your album
On the map

Komensky on the map, 1970 to 1985

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

Komensky on the 1970 USGS mapKomensky on the 1985 USGS map1970Hatfield 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 Komensky.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Komensky

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Black Hawk Powwow Grounds
Black Hawk Powwow Grounds
Sites
Black Hawk Powwow GroundsSite

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Komensky

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

See all →
Virginia SatirAmerican psychotherapist & non-fiction author · b. 1916
Edward E. LyonUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1871
Hugh H. PriceAmerican politician · b. 1859
E
Ernie RudolphAmerican baseball player · b. 1909
F
Froelich RaineyAmerican anthropologist · b. 1907
M
Matt WingardAmerican politician
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

AdamsIts storyDMillston1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCity PointIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLevisIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrockwayIts storyC−DewhurstIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Komensky’s history

What is on the National Register in Komensky?

One place: the Black Hawk Powwow Grounds (listed 2007).

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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.