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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Downey ...

Downey is located in Cedar County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Downey, you might consider that their post office opened in 1857.

Downey is 680 feet [207 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Downey lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Downey: 319

Communities Also Named Downey ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 5 communities that are also named Downey - they are located in California, Idaho, Illinois (2) and Pennsylvania.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Downey.

Communities near Downey ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Downey.

  • Iowa City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Coralville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • North Liberty
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Tiffin
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • West Liberty
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Tipton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Wilton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Wilton is located in Muscatine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,800 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilton <3>
  • Solon
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Solon is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solon
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,771 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Solon <3>
  • West Branch
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Lone Tree
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)

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 Downey. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Downey.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Downey. 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 Downey.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Downey. See our Newspapers Page for Downey.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Downey ...

Looking for more information about Downey? 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 Downey, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Downey.

Adding Downey to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Downey 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 (so far) for Downey was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<4>

From that list, the Downey post office opened in 1857. The Downey post office closed in 1957.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Downey.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Iowa's counties, including Cedar, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Downey - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/