Crime Scene & Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Mapleton Mapleton, IA

Mapleton is a city in Monona County in western Iowa, the county's second-largest community after the county seat of Onawa, and it is situated on the Maple River.

Mapleton was platted in the autumn of 1877 when the Maple River branch of the railroad reached the site, and the town was incorporated in 1878 with J. F. Scott as its first mayor.

The town took its name from its location near the Maple River.

On April 9, 2011, an EF3 tornado about three-quarters of a mile wide ripped through the western half of Mapleton, and early reports said 50 to 60 percent of the town was damaged or destroyed — yet no serious injuries were reported.

The 2020 census counted 1,165 people in Mapleton living in 507 households.

Mapleton's population peaked at 1,857 residents in the 1950 census and has declined in nearly every census since.

Mapleton's town motto is 'Rural beauty with a touch of class.'

Mapleton students attend the Maple Valley-Anthon Oto Community School District, created on July 1, 2012, by merging the Maple Valley and Anthon-Oto districts, and the district's MVAOCOU High School is located in Mapleton.

The first school in the Mapleton area, East Mapleton Township School, was established in 1858, two decades before the town itself was platted.

Mapleton has an older population — the median age was 45.0 years in 2020, and about 26.5 percent of residents were 65 years of age or older.