Victor is a town in Poweshiek and Iowa counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 875 in the 2020 census, a decline from the population of 952 in 2000.
History
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Prior to its opening for European settlement, the area around what is now Victor was home to the Sac and Fox Indians.
The Dragoon Trail trail follows the path of the 1st U. S. Dragoons, the country's first mounted infantry unit, on their historic march in the summer of 1835. The purpose of the march was to scout Iowa after the Black Hawk Purchase of 1832. This trail generally followed the Bear Creek Valley in western Iowa County and passed about a mile south of what would later become Victor.
In 1856 and 1857, Mormon Handcart Pioneers followed the Dragoon Trail south of Victor on their way from the end of the rail line in Iowa City to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah. The route was later referred to locally as the "State Road" and today is officially designated by the county as "A Diagonal". Later, until about 1863, Mormon pioneers passed through Victor in covered wagons.
In April 1854, George W. Wilson, a native of Ohio, purchased from the federal government the land on which Victor now occupies.
In October 1861, Wilson permanently moved from Ohio to Iowa and soon began negotiations with Thomas C. Durant of New York City, a railroad officer. The resulting agreement involved granting a right of way through Wilson's land, providing space for a switch yard and station, and building a depot.
Construction of the depot started on November 15, 1861, and was completed by December 24. Materials were sourced partly from Wilson's timber land near Victor, with additional supplies purchased from Davenport and Iowa City. Samuel Howard, the foreman, led the construction with assistance from several workers who prepared and transported the timbers.
The depot was the first building in what would become the town of Victor, laying the foundation for its growth.
May 5, 1863, Joseph A. Blackburn - a brother-in-law of George Wilson - completed the legal steps necessary for the original town of "Wilson", named in honor of the man who entered the land. Another addition was made June 19, 1866, and still another December 20, 1867.
In 1869, following Iowa's general law, the town was incorporated. Under the direction of Wilson and the town was divided into lots by surveyor Charles Stotwell. The town had been originally surveyed just eight years prior to its incorporation.
In July 1854 the first post office in the region was established south of Victor on the State Road and given the name "Victor" after a village in New York. In 1865, the post office was relocated to where the town had been established and the town's name was changed from Wilson to Victor.
A man named McEckley was the first to build a house, store and mill at what is now the site of Victor. The early settlers, primarily of Irish and German descent, came from Ohio, Indiana, and Maryland. Later, Belgian and Czech immigrants arrived.
Railroad
thumb|Steam locomotive in front of the first grain elevator in Victor, Iowa.
The first railroad to reach Victor was the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad (M&M Railroad) which arrived in 1862. Chartered in 1853, the M&M was Iowa's first railroad. It was created to connect Davenport on the Mississippi River to Council Bluffs on the Missouri River. It was the first railroad west of the Mississippi to be connected by a bridge to the East and it played a significant role in the development of the first transcontinental railroad.
The Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad, under lease to the Chicago & North Western, however, was the first to actually reach Council Bluffs. Thomas C. Durant, vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad, held stock in both railroads and was accused of corruption in manipulating the railroads' stock prices and operating as a petty tyrant.
The Rock Island Line bought the M&M on July 9, 1866.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.