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Iola

Ghost town · Pottawattamie County, Iowa

Oakland quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1963, 1:24,000)
Oakland quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1963, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Iola is a ghost town in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. It is one of 4 former communities in Pottawattamie County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 24th among the 79 Iowa counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Iola as a historical populated place on the Oakland 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 41.3328° N, 95.3800° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleOakland
Elevation1,188 ft
Nearest living townOakland, IA
Distance to it1.9 miles
GNIS feature ID465484
Coordinates41.33277, -95.38000

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Iola is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Oakland, IA (population 1,500), about 1.9 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 1,188 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Iola?

Iola is in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, at 41.3328, -95.3800.

How many ghost towns are in Pottawattamie County?

Pottawattamie County, Iowa has 4 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.