Truro, IA

Truro is a city in southeast Madison County, part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines metropolitan area. The 2020 census counted 509 residents. The community was first settled as Ohio Township in the early 1850s by people from Ohio, then laid out and platted in 1881. Farm roads and Interstate 35 place Truro within the larger movement between Des Moines and the towns of southern Madison County.

Interstate 35 Community School District serves the city, with its elementary, middle, and high schools located in Truro. That campus gives the small city a regional role beyond its population, drawing students and families from the surrounding countryside. The town’s name recalls Truro, Cornwall, and its railroad-era layout still helps make sense of the streets: a compact center, homes close to the school, and open agricultural land beyond. That school presence still matters. Truro is a small Iowa place whose story runs from Ohio settlers to a highway corridor and a school district built around the town.