Greenville is a city in Clay County, Iowa, United States. The population was 71 in the 2020 census, a decline from 93 in 2000.
History
The Greenville post office opened in 1871. The town was named after its first postmaster, A. W. Green.
Bank robbery of 1901
On November 16, 1901, a Mr. Brown opened the bank in Greenville and discovered that the bank had been robbed; the vault handle had been removed, explosives placed into the opening, and the vault door blown off.
Three men were seen later in Spencer, then Webb, and finally Albert City, where they were cornered at the train station. A gunfight ensued, during which one of the gunmen was killed. The other two were captured and later sentenced to life terms in the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, while the dead gunman was buried in an unmarked grave in Fairfield Cemetery in Albert City. Sixty-four empty shell casings were picked up in the depot after the gun fight.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.