Chapin is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

in northern

Franklin County, Iowa Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,019. The county seat is Hampton. The county was formed on January 15, 1851 and named after Benjamin Franklin. Geography According to t ...

, United States. It lies along local roads just off U.S. Route 65, north of the city of

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Franklin County. Its elevation is 1,155 feet (352 m), and it is located at (42.8335814, -93.2221464). Although Chapin is unincorporated, it has a post office with the ZIP code of 50427, which opened on 29 February 1860. As of the 2010 census, its population was 87. Chapin was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted in 1858 by Josiah Bushnell Grinnell, who had previously founded

Grinnell, Iowa Grinnell is a city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,564 at the time of the 2020 census. It is best known for being the home of Grinnell College. History Grinnell was founded by settlers from New England who we ...

. He gave this new town the name Chapin, the maiden name of his wife.

Demographics

Education

Chapin is part of the

West Fork Community School District The West Fork Community School District is a consolidated rural public school district in Iowa, with campuses in Rockwell and Sheffield. It resides in sections of Cerro Gordo and Franklin counties, with smaller portions in Hancock and Wright ...

, formed in 2011 by the merger of the Sheffield–Chapin–Meservey–Thornton (SCMT) Community School District and the

Rockwell–Swaledale Community School District Rockwell–Swaledale Community School District was a school district headquartered in Rockwell, Iowa, USA. Located in Cerro Gordo County, it served Rockwell and Swaledale. History The district was formed in 1960 by the merger of the Rockwell Com ...

. SCMT was formed in 2007 by the merger of the Sheffield–Chapin Community School District and the Meservey–Thornton Community School District. Sheffield–Chapin, in turn, formed in 1960 from the merger of the Sheffield Community School District and the Chapin Community School District.

References

Census-designated places in Franklin County, Iowa Census-designated places in Iowa 1858 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1858 {{FranklinCountyIA-geo-stub