Guthrie Center, Iowa
city in Iowa, US
Guthrie Center is a city in Guthrie County, Iowa, United States, along the South Raccoon River. The population was 1,593 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Guthrie County.
Guthrie Center is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area.
History
Guthrie Center was platted in 1856. It was named for Capt. Edwin B. Guthrie who was the first justice of the peace at Fort Madison, fought as a volunteer in the Mexican War and, on June 20, 1847, was wounded defending material and more than $350,000 in gold and silver coin. The railroad was built through the settlement in 1879. Guthrie Center was incorporated in 1880.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.47 square miles (6.40 km2), all of it land.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Guthrie Center, Iowa” is city in Iowa, US. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Guthrie, Center and Iowa, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “city in Iowa, US” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1913499. VIAF identifies the subject as 3386148574391024430008. Authority coordinates are 41.680, -94.501. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1856, 1847 and 1879.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Guthrie Center, Iowa”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Guthrie Center, Iowa primary sources, Guthrie Center, Iowa archive and Guthrie research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Guthrie Center, Iowa”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Guthrie Center, Iowa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.