Biohazard Cleanup Near West Imogene Imogene, IA

Imogene was surveyed on November 24, 1879, and was named by Captain Anderson in honor of his daughter Imogene.

Irish Catholic settlers who came to southwestern Iowa to work on the railroad in the 1870s dubbed the area 'Little Ireland,' an identity Imogene still proudly claims today.

The city of Imogene was incorporated on February 18, 1881.

Imogene's St. Patrick Catholic Church parish was organized in 1880; after fire destroyed the earlier church on February 12, 1915, the present church was built between 1915 and 1919 and dedicated on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1924, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

St. Patrick Academy opened in Imogene on September 9, 1907, with 100 students — more children than the town's entire population today — and educated roughly 1,000 students before closing in 1969.

The 2020 census counted just 39 people in 17 households in Imogene, down 45.8 percent from 72 residents in 2010.

Imogene was far bigger in its railroad-era heyday, counting 341 residents in the 1910 census and around 400 in the late 1880s by the city's own records.

The old Wabash depot was for many years the hub of community life in Imogene, and the Wabash Trace Nature Trail — the converted rail line — now draws visitors through town.

With fewer than 100 residents, Imogene governs itself with a three-seat city council and runs the city on an annual budget of about $20,000.