Olin, IA

Olin is a city in Jones County, part of the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area. The 2020 census counted 651 residents, and the city was incorporated in 1879. Its name honors D.A. Olin, general superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, tying the town directly to the railroad era that built so many Iowa communities. The old business district along Jackson Street grew beside the depot and still carries the shape of that early commercial town.

Education remains a local thread. Olin Consolidated Community School District serves Olin and the surrounding area, while the school story also reflects the adjustments that come with a small rural enrollment: in 2012, the board voted to close the junior and senior high school and entered a three-year whole-grade sharing agreement with Anamosa. The town's older commercial buildings, railroad name, and school traditions all point to the same pattern - Olin grew as a service stop for farm country and continues to serve the countryside around it. The result is a compact Jones County city with a railroad-shaped main street and a distinctly local school identity.