Biohazard Cleanup Near West Otranto Otranto, IA

Otranto is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Otranto Township in northern Mitchell County, Iowa, along the banks of the Cedar River.

Otranto was founded in May 1854, when Lewis West and members of the Wilder family staked claims along the Cedar River, expecting the river to power a prosperous town; the settlement's first shop opened in 1855.

The village was earlier known as Bartlett's Grove, after Mary Bartlett, who platted it in 1877; after the railroad came through it took the name Otranto Station.

In its heyday Otranto boasted a flour mill, a blacksmith shop, a saloon, a drug store, a hotel, a furniture dealer, a hardware store, a lumber yard and a dance hall.

Otranto's post office, described as one of the smallest in North Iowa, closed in 1965.

The 2020 census counted 27 people in Otranto — exactly the same population as in 2010 — living in 14 households and 13 families.

Otranto Township, which surrounds the community, was established in 1857 in Mitchell County, a county named for Irish patriot John Mitchel whose seat is Osage.