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History · Delta

Delta’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Delta. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
5recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Delta is a city in Keokuk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 264 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 328 to 264 (-20%). Half of its homes were built before 1938.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Delta yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Delta’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Delta

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LKLyle KrewsonPolitics & Law
By decade

Delta, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
Today5 photos
DeltaIowaWaterTowerCommonsDeltaIowaWaterTower2025DeltaIowaCommunityCenterCommonsDeltaIowaCommunityCenter2025DeltaIowaChristianChurchCommonsDeltaIowaChristianChurch2025DeltaIowaPopPlotCommonsDeltaIowaPopPlot2021IAMap-doton-DeltaCommonsIAMap-doton-Delta2004
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Delta is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Delta has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Masonic Opera House in What Cheer, 5.6 miles away.

Delta and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Delta. Tap a dot.
Masonic Opera HouseHayesville Independent SchoolKeokuk County CourthousePublic Square Historic DistrictSigourney Public LibraryRose Hill Methodist Episcopal Church

Closest to Delta

Masonic Opera HouseWhat Cheer · Romanesque5.6miHayesville Independent SchoolHayesville · Building5.8miKeokuk County CourthouseSigourney · Building6.6miPublic Square Historic DistrictSigourney · District6.6miSigourney Public LibrarySigourney · Building6.6mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Masonic Opera House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Delta?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Delta’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 What Cheer📜 Hayesville📜 Sigourney📜 Rose Hill

From Wikimedia Commons (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

We left the porch light on

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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