New York

Overview

Room to grow

New York stood on the farmland of Union Township, north of Corydon, the Wayne County seat. The county history of 1886 says Oorey and Micajah Cross platted the village on April 20, 1855, and named it, so the story went, because it had more room to grow than the American metropolis had on Manhattan Island. Wikipedia, citing an 1897 newspaper list of towns named after states, says it was named for the state of New York. A post office opened in 1856.

By 1886 the village had a Christian church, built in 1871 or 1872, a Methodist church of 1874 and a post of the Grand Army of the Republic with 36 members. Dr. Joel Johnson had been its first resident physician. Its Masonic lodge had already moved to Confidence. It never grew the way its name promised. The post office closed in 1903, and by 1934 the USGS map showed little more than a church, a cemetery and a few buildings where the roads cross.

Wikipedia says none of the churches, the school or the other buildings on the old maps still stand. One building did survive by moving: the Wayne County Culture Trail lists a church, "originally the New York Christian Church, 1887," among the old buildings gathered at the Round Barn east of Allerton. That date differs from the 1871 or 1872 the county history gives for the first Christian church, and we haven't found out why.

Timeline

What we know

1. Apr 20, 1855Oorey and Micajah Cross plat the village in Union Township, by the county history of 1886.
2. 1856A post office called New York opens. The 1886 history names Jacob Morrett as the first postmaster and A. Hutchinson Sr. as the first merchant.
3. 1871–1874The Christian church goes up in 1871 or 1872, and the Methodist church in 1874.
4. Feb 1883Messenger Post of the Grand Army of the Republic is mustered at New York with 17 members, 36 by 1886. A Sons of Veterans camp follows in 1885.
5. 1886The county history names M. G. Thorp as the postmaster and notes that the Masonic lodge has moved to Confidence.
6. 1887The date the Wayne County Culture Trail gives for the New York Christian Church building, which now stands at the Round Barn east of Allerton.
7. 1897Old maps show two churches, a school and other buildings, by Wikipedia, which cites the county plat book of 1897.
8. 1903The post office closes.
9. 1934The USGS Corydon sheet shows New York as a church, a cemetery and a few buildings at a crossroads.
10. Date not foundThe church building is moved to the Round Barn site east of Allerton, which a local nonprofit saved in 1992.

Site map

Where the village stood

Today's USGS map puts the name New York at the crossing of County Road J22 and 165th Avenue, in the Township of Union. The 1934 Corydon sheet in the historic maps below shows a church, a cemetery cross and a scatter of buildings along the east–west road, a bench mark at 1,057 feet, Jordan Creek to the south, and Millerton with its railroad to the west. By the 1954 sheet only a cemetery is marked at the site, and the 1981 sheet shows the name and nothing else.

• Crossroads of County Road J22 and 165th Avenue
• Cemetery marked on the 1934 and 1954 maps (not confirmed today)
• Church building of 1887, moved to the Round Barn site east of Allerton

Historic maps

New York on USGS maps, 1934–1981

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19341:62,50019541:250,00019811:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Corydon, the county seat, is the closest town, about 16 minutes south on IA 14. From Des Moines the routed drive uses US 69, IA 5, County Road S45 through Melcher-Dallas and IA 14 through Chariton. Both routes end on County Road J22 at the crossroads. The routes are computed from OpenStreetMap and haven't been driven by us.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Have photos of New York?

We haven’t added more photographs of New York yet. If you’ve visited, share your photos and a field report below.

Visitor reports

Been to New York?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near New York

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Iowa index.

• Big Spring18.2 mi SW · Wayne
• Terre Haute33.8 mi W · Decatur
• Dudley38.5 mi NE · Wapello
• Red Rock40.4 mi N · Marion
• Mount Pisgah46.0 mi W · Union
• Iowaville56.6 mi E · Van Buren
• Indianapolis57.2 mi NE · Mahaska
• Herrold64.9 mi N · Polk

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Wikipedia, "New York, Iowa", retrieved October 2026: coordinates and GNIS record, the post office of 1856 to 1903, the name after the state, and the 1897 plat book's churches and school, none standing (a claim added on May 29, 2021).
2. IAGenWeb Wayne County, "New York", transcribed from the Biographical and Historical Record of Wayne and Appanoose Counties, Iowa (Inter-State Publishing, 1886): the April 20, 1855 platting in Union Township, the Manhattan story, the first merchant and postmaster, the churches of 1871 or 1872 and 1874, the lodge moved to Confidence, the G.A.R. post and the Sons of Veterans camp.
3. Wayne County Culture Trail, "Round Barn - Allerton", read October 2026: the church, "originally the New York Christian Church, 1887," at the Round Barn site one mile east of Allerton, saved by the International Center for Rural Culture and Art in 1992; tours by appointment.
4. IAGenWeb Wayne County, read October 2026: New York listed among the county's unincorporated communities.
5. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

• New York on the 1934 USGS Corydon sheet: church and cemetery symbols at the crossroads, Millerton and the railroad to the west: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Corydon 1934, 1:62,500; Centerville 1954, 1:250,000; Leon 1981, 1:100,000.