Chapin, IA

Chapin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northern Franklin County, Iowa, United States. The 2020 census counted 71 residents. Chapin lies along local roads just off U.S. Route 65, north of Hampton, the county seat of Franklin County. Although Chapin is unincorporated, it has a postal code of 50427. That mix gives Chapin a clear local shape within Iowa, with older layers still visible in current places. The local scoop is a place whose streets, landmarks, and institutions keep its earlier story close to the present. The Chapin post office opened on 29 February 1860 and closed in 2005. Chapin was platted in 1858 by Josiah Bushnell Grinnell, who had previously founded Grinnell, Iowa. He gave this new town the name Chapin, the maiden name of his wife.