Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Galva, IA

Galva was laid out in October 1882, when the Kingsley branch of the Chicago and North Western Railway was built across the northern part of Ida County and created a string of new railroad towns.

Galva was named by settler Sam Eldridge after Galva, Illinois, the former hometown of a large share of the town's early settlers.

Galva's post office opened in 1877, five years before the town itself was laid out beside the new railroad.

Galva peaked at 539 residents in the 1920 census and still holds close to that level today, unusual stability for a small western Iowa farm town.

The 2020 census counted 435 people in Galva living in 158 households.

Galva is notably young and diverse for rural Iowa: the 2020 census recorded a median age of just 33.9 years, and Hispanic or Latino residents made up about 12 percent of the population.

Galva students attend the Galva-Holstein Community School District, created on July 1, 1980, by the merger of the Galva and Holstein districts; the district grade-shares with Schaller-Crestland under the shared name Ridge View.

Galva sits along U.S. Highway 20 in northeastern Ida County, surrounded by some of the richest corn and soybean ground in northwest Iowa.