Please send us your past and present Post Office photos! Kristi Lam,
Co-Coordinator for Cedar County


Cedar County Post Offices Granted by an act of Legislature Feb. 12, 1857. Boundaries were redefined January 13, 1860. County named for cedar trees in the region.

ANDREW – Post office established March 17, 1882; discontinued January 18, 1902. Named in honor of Andrew McNeal, first postmaster.

ASBRE – former community located near Crofton, named for an Asbre family.

ATEN – peak population (1890), 50. Post Office name changed from Green Island January 11, 1882; discontinued July 3, 1906. Former town and present locality named in honor of James Aten, first postmaster.

BELDIN –Peak population (1920) 285. Post office established June 20, 1890. Town named in honor of Scott Beldin, paymaster on the “shortline” railroad built from Sioux City, Iowa, to O’Neil, Nebraska in 1890.

BOW VALLEY – Post office established December 11, 1871; discontinued April 4, 1903. Named for the creek on which it was located by postmaster Conrad Wisner.

BRANCH – Post office established August 27, 1884; discontinued Oct. 12, 1895. Probably named for its location between two branches of the main creek.

CASE- Former station on the Chicago St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha – Railroad; probably named for A B Case, an early settler and Civil War Veteran.

CENTER BOW – Post office established February 9, 1872; discontinued May 24, 1875. Probably named for it’s location near the center branch of Bow Creek.

CLARAMONT- Post office established June 12, 1884; name changed to Laurel May 28, 1892. Claramont is a misnomer, since the name presented by Louis Tolles to the Post Office Department was Claremont. Through a clerical error the letter “a” was inserted in lieu of the letter “e” . Townspeople and the North Western Railroad used Claremont. Tolles an early Cedar county settler from Ascutneyvillle, Vermont, who lived close to Claremont, New Hampshire, chose the name Claremont for the new town on land donated by Roger O’Gara. When the new site of Laurel was platted, some business s in Claremont moved to the new site, and the North Western Railroad used Claremont as a flag station between Coleridge and Laurel.

CLAREMONT – See Claramont.

COLERIDGE – Peak population (1920) 674. Post office name changed from Lawnridge, Sept. 10, 1883. Named in honor of Lord Coleridge from England, who visited the town site. Mr. Whitten, general superintendent of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad, named the town.

CONSTANCE – Post office established April 28, 1888; discontinued April 3, 1909. Origin of name not learned.

CURLEW – Post office established December 11, 1871; discontinued October 7, 1872. Supposedly promoted by easterners but never got beyond the platting stage. Origin of name not learned. ** school known as Kerloo, or Kerlew.

ELM GROVE – Post office established May 1, 1858; discontinued October 1, 1868. Post office established by Philip Clark, first postmaster; and named for a grove of elm trees.

FORDYCE - Peak population ( 1910) 250. Post office established March 26, 1907. Village named in honor of William Fordyce, train dispatcher for the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad.

GREEN ISLAND - Post office established January 7, 1871; name changed to Aten June 11, 1882. This post office, located across the Missouri River from Yankton, South Dakota, was wiped out by an 1881 flood and moved to present Aten. Probably named for lush plants in the valley.

HARTINGTON – peak population (1980) 1, 730; Post Office name changed from Paragon October 17, 1883. County Seat named by a Mr. Whitten of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad for Lord Hartington of England. Whitten founded it after another town had been named for Lord Coleridge. Lord Hartington visited the US a year before the founding of the town. Platted by T.T. Linkhart, Hartington won county seat in election with St. Helena.

HAVENS - Post office established November 25, 1884; discontinued December 12, 1893. Probably named in honor of Alfred Havens first postmaster.

LAUREL – Peak population (1950) 944. Post office named changed from Claramont May 28, 1892. The Pacific Short Line Railroad, now Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad built its east-west line with a junction of the North Western Railroad running southeast to northwest, about a mile east of Claremont. The townsite of Laurel was platted from farm land owned by William Martin and was to be named for his oldest daughter, Laura. There was already a post office called Laura in Holt county. As a compromise, the name Laurel was accepted.

The Northwestern Railroad failed to recognize the new town of Laurel and continued to drop mail and passengers at Claremont. Mail had to be transported by horse drawn conveyance to Laurel. The State Railroad Commission ordered the North Western Railroad to observe Laurel as a stop. The Claremont depot , water tank, elevator and section house were then moved to Laurel. LAWNRIDGE - Post office established May 21, 1878; name changed to Coleridge September 10, 1883. First settlement made by R T O’Gara in 1870. Probably named for a grassy ridge having a lawn-like appearance.

LOGAN VALLEY – Post office established June 23, 1874; name changed to Norris October 3, 1881. Named for Logan Creek and Logan Valley.

MAGNET- Peak population ( 1910) 178. Post office established April 21, 1894. Town named by B.E. Smith town site proprietor, for the first “magnet stone” with the hope that it “would attract the people as a magnet attracts iron”.

MENOMINEE – Peak Population (1890) 50. Post office established May 6, 1867; discontinued May 27, 1902; Mail served from Fordyce. Village named for either Menominee, Michigan, or Menominee, Wisconsin; both named for the Menominee Indian Tribe.

NORRIS – Post Office name changed from Logan Valley October 3, 1881; moved to Coleridge October 27, 1887. Named for A. Hart Norris of Batavia, New York, who wanted the place called Elm City for elm trees he planted. Most of the trees died, and Norris was adopted.

OBERT – Peak Population (1930) 117. Post Office name changed from Oberton November 6, 1909. See note below on Oberton.

OBERTON - Post office established July 3, 1909; name changed to Obert November 6, 1909. Town named in honor of Mr. Oberton, Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad official. Name changed to avoid confusion with Overton, Nebraska.

PARAGON- Post Office name changed from Smithland February 13, 1882; name changed to Hartington, October 17, 1883. Town may have been named for the descriptive word, “paragon” meaning to surpass, or a model of perfection. There is also a Paragon, Indiana. Town first called Paragon City.

PLAINFIELD - Post office established February 11, 1898; rescinded July 17, 1898. Probably named for one of twelve post offices or towns in the US with the same name.

RANDOLPH – peak population (1930) 1,145. Post office established January 12, 1887. Town commemorates the famous English statesman, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849 – 1895) Named by F.H. Peavey of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

ST. HELENA – Peak population (1880) 300. Post office established June 29, 1857. Named by Carl C P Meyer, first settler in the vicinity (1857), probably for the patron St. Helena, widow of the 4th century Emperor Constanius Chlorus, mother of Constantine and the first Christian emperor of Rome, Saint Helena won the county seat in a election with St. james in 1869, but lost to Hartington. ** Carl Meyer had a daughter named Helena.

ST. JAMES – Peak Population (1880) 81. Post office established July 13, 1858; discontinued May 31, 1909. Mail served from Wynot. Village platted by Colonel C C Van and Moses H Deming, formerly of Des Moines , Iowa in 1856. Saint James, first county seat. Lost it in election with Saint Helena in 1869. Probably named for one of seven Saint James in the US.

ST. PETER – Census not available. Post office established May 21, 1875; discontinued January 18, 1902. Former village named in honor of Peter Abts, first settler who came here in 1870.

SMITHLAND- Post office established December 11, 1871; name changed to Paragon February 15, 1882. Probably named in honor of Michal Smith, first postmaster.

STRAHMBURG - Former locality named for Saby Strahm, early settler; probably intended for a townsite.

TAFT – Former locality in early county settlement.

VAN – post office established march 12, 1883; discontinued April 7, 1884. Named in honor of C.C. Van, early settler.

WAREHAM - Post office established March 19, 1907; discontinued January 31, 1913. Former post office and railroad station probably named by railroad officials for Wareham, Massachusetts.

WASHINGTON – an 1880 map shows Washington as railroad terminus , where Hartington now stands.

WACUPONA – Census not available. Post office established September 2, 1857; discontinued October 3, 1898. Former town probably named for a chief of the Potswatomi Indians.

WYNOT – peak population (1940) 416. Post office established December 16, 1907. Wynot, a shortened version of “why not”, was suggested by a citizen who knew an elderly German Settler whose answer to all questions was “Why not?” the boys and girls imitated him and later the older citizens caught their habit. The town was once the terminus of a now inactive Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad line.

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