Postville is a city in Allamakee and Clayton counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes 18 and 52 and Iowa Highway 51, with airport facilities in the neighboring communities of Waukon, Decorah, Monona and Prairie du Chien. The population was 2,503 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 2,273 in 2000. The city is in Allamakee County's southwestern corner and Clayton County's northwestern corner in a quad county, or four-corner region, where four counties intersect. Winneshiek County is just to the west and Fayette County is just to the southwest of Postville.
History
The area of what is now Postville was first settled in 1843 by pioneer settler and mill worker Joel Post, hence the name of the city. Postville was platted in 1853. The population had ancestry from Germany and Norway. Stephanie Simon of the Los Angeles Times wrote that, until circa the 1990s, "Postville was basically all white and all Christian."
On March 17, 1873, Postville was officially incorporated as a city.
In 1987, a group of Hasidic Jews started Agriprocessors, a Kosher slaughterhouse, in Postville. By 1999, the plant attracted immigrants from various countries, especially those from Latin America and the former Soviet Union. Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy on November 5, 2008; SHF Industries bought the plant at auction in July 2009 and it has resumed production under the new name Agri Star.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , all land.