Wayfarrow

Bell

Ghost town · Crawford County, Iowa

Dow City quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1971, 1:24,000)
Dow City quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1971, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Bell is a ghost town in Crawford County, Iowa. It is one of 3 former communities in Crawford County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 32nd among the 79 Iowa counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Bell as a historical populated place on the Dow City topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 41.9572° N, 95.4958° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleDow City
Elevation1,157 ft
Nearest living townArion, IA
Distance to it1.8 miles
GNIS feature ID464170
Coordinates41.95721, -95.49583

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Bell is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Arion, IA (population 99), about 1.8 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 1,157 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Bell?

Bell is in Crawford County, Iowa, at 41.9572, -95.4958.

How many ghost towns are in Crawford County?

Crawford County, Iowa has 3 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.