Welcome to Charleston ...
Charleston is located in Lee County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Charleston, you might consider that their post office opened in 1850.
When the people of Charleston refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Charlestonian<2>
Charleston is 700 feet [213 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Charleston lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
The telephone area code for Charleston: (319)
Going back to its beginning, Charleston was originally named Praire House. For more information about the names of Charleston, see The Names of Charleston on our Genealogy Page.
Communities Also Named Charleston ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 44 communities that are also named Charleston - they are located in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas (3), Kentucky (2), Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Nebraska, Nevada (2), New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York (2), Newfoundland and Labrador, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio (4), Oklahoma, Ontario (3), Oregon, Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina, Tennessee (2), Texas (2), Utah, Washington and West Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Charleston.
Communities near Charleston ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Charleston.
- Fort Madison
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Madison
- Fort Madison is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,263 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Madison <4>
- Keokuk
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keokuk
- Keokuk is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,090 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keokuk <4>
- Hamilton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hamilton have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton
- Hamilton is located in Hancock County (IL)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,673 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hamilton <4>
- Kahoka
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kahoka have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kahoka
- Kahoka is located in Clark County (MO)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,031 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kahoka <4>
- Warsaw
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warsaw have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
- Warsaw is located in Hancock County (IL)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,456 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Warsaw <4>
- Nauvoo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nauvoo
- Nauvoo is located in Hancock County (IL)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,044 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nauvoo <4>
- West Point
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Point
- West Point is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 916 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Point <4>
- Dallas City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas City
- Dallas City is located in Hancock County (IL)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 859 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dallas City <4>
- Donnellson
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnellson
- Donnellson is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 846 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Donnellson <4>
- Montrose
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
- Montrose is located in Lee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montrose <4>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Charleston. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Charleston.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Charleston. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Charleston.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Charleston. See our Newspapers Page for Charleston.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Charleston ...
Looking for more information about Charleston? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Charleston, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Charleston.
Adding Charleston to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Charleston in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Charleston was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Charleston post office opened in 1850.
We also found Charleston in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Charleston.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Charleston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Lee County: www.leecounty.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Iowa's counties, including Lee, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Charleston refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Charleston may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Charleston - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <6> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |