The Last Town Over: A Love Letter to Small-Town Iowa

Chelsea, Iowa. Population: 229

Tucked between gravel roads and an endless sky, small-town Iowa isn’t just a place—it’s a feeling.

It’s the quiet of Sunday mornings, sermons drifting from the local church.

It’s the crunch of gravel beneath tires on Main Street.

It’s the creak of a screen door opening for lunch at the only bar in town.

And it’s the farmers gathered at the gas station, nursing black coffee and local gossip.

Saint Anthony, Iowa Population: 76

In these often overlooked corners of the map—where population signs barely crack triple digits—life moves with quiet resilience. Dispatches from the Edge of the Map is a love letter to these places: part memory, part observation, and wholly rooted in the belief that even the smallest towns can hold the most profound stories.

The project began around 2020 as Pop. 500, a simple idea to document Iowa’s smallest communities. It has since evolved into The Last Town Over, a deeper exploration of towns with 500 residents or fewer.

I’m traveling across the state to photograph what remains—capturing the soul of communities where everyone knows each other, where the flag still clanks against the pole outside City Hall, even if the post office has long since closed. These places may not have kept up with the times, but they endure—with grit, grace, and hope for the future.

I invite you to follow along as I explore these resilient towns.
Follow on Instagram: @the_last_town_over
Connect on Facebook: Justin Tedford Fine Art Photography.

And remember: the next time you pass through a quiet Iowa town, you might just be in The Last Town Over.