COELO

Coelo was an early Post Office in Platte Township. The post office was opened March 9, 1858 by Gideon Seeley.   The post office closed March 26, 1859 in favor of the Union City Post Office.   In the book Kent Next Four Exits, by Alfred Lucas, 1999, Lucas states Coelo was near the center of Section 21 on the Middle Platte River.   However the river closely follows the east side of the Section 21 until until the river bends and follows the south section line and exits near the center of the south section line, meaning, if Coelo was near the river, it would have to have been in the east or south east portion of section 21 not the center.  From the Union County Recorders Office, Book 1 of Deeds: Reuben Riggs sold to Gideon Seeley the North 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 Section 21, and the South 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of Section 22,  16 October 1855.   If Coelo was located on this plat of land, it would have been very near the location of Madden’s Grove.  In section 21 of the map below, the red dotted line represents the location of the road at the time of Coelo and Maddens Grove and the green dotted line shows the location of present day roads.

 Coelo was not recorded in David Mott’s 1929 List of Abandoned Towns of Iowa.   The opening and closing dates for Coelo appear in the book,  Iowa Post Offices, 1833-1986, by Alan H. Patera & John S. Gallagher, 1986.