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Welcome to Harlan ...

The city of Harlan is located in Shelby County<1> and is the County Seat for Shelby County.



While we don't have a date for the founding of Harlan, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1859.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Harlan has a population of 4,769 people<2> (see below for details).

Harlan is 1,260 feet [384 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Harlan lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Harlan: (712)

The ZIP codes for Harlan: 51537, 51593<4>

Websites for Harlan ...

Official Website: www.cityofharlan.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Harlan had an population of 4,769 people. This is a decrease of 6.6% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 9.71% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Harlan had a population of 5,106 people (or 41.97% of the total population of Shelby County). This makes Harlan the county's most populous community.

The population of Harlan represents 0.17% of the population of Iowa (which has 3,046,355 people), making it the state's 80th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 5,106 people, the population of Harlan decreased 3.33% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 5,282 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Harlan.

Communities Also Named Harlan ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 10 communities that are also named Harlan - they are located in Alabama, Indiana, Kansas (2), Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Harlan.

Communities near Harlan ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Harlan.

  • Avoca
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avoca have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
    • Avoca is located in Pottawattamie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,537 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avoca <6>
  • Dunlap
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunlap have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
    • Dunlap is located in Harrison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 978 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dunlap <6>
  • Walnut
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
    • Walnut is located in Pottawattamie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
  • Manilla
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Shelby
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelby have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
    • Shelby is located in Shelby County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 607 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shelby <6>
  • Elk Horn
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Horn have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Horn
    • Elk Horn is located in Shelby County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 601 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk Horn <6>
  • Minden
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minden have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minden
    • Minden is located in Pottawattamie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 597 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minden <6>
  • Earling
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Earling have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earling
    • Earling is located in Shelby County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 403 people
  • Irwin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwin have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
    • Irwin is located in Shelby County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 308 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <6>
  • Persia
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Persia have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Persia
    • Persia is located in Harrison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 281 people

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Harlan. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Harlan.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Harlan. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Harlan.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Harlan. Our list includes 9 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Harlan.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Harlan ...

Looking for more information about Harlan? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Harlan, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Harlan.

Adding Harlan to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Harlan in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Harlan was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Harlan post office opened in 1859.

We also found Harlan in the book titled Iowa State Gazetteer (1865).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Harlan.

The official website for Harlan: www.cityofharlan.com/

The official website for Shelby County: www.shco.org/

The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Iowa's counties, including Shelby, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Harlan.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Harlan - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Harlan). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Harlan or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<5>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024