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West Union

Ghost town · Tama County, Iowa

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

West Union is a ghost town in Tama County, Iowa. It is one of 4 former communities in Tama County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 18th among the 79 Iowa counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists West Union as a historical populated place on the Traer 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 42.1905° N, 92.4466° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleTraer
Elevation916 ft
Nearest living townTraer, IA
Distance to it0.9 miles
GNIS feature ID465544
Coordinates42.19055, -92.44658

Open the location on a map

What's there now

West Union is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Traer, IA (population 1,464), about 0.9 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 916 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is West Union?

West Union is in Tama County, Iowa, at 42.1905, -92.4466.

How many ghost towns are in Tama County?

Tama 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.