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Buffalo

Ghost town · Madison County, Iowa

Winterset quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1952, 1:62,500)
Winterset quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1952, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Buffalo is a ghost town in Madison County, Iowa. It is the only former community in Madison County recorded on the federal names register, out of 226 across Iowa.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Buffalo as a historical populated place on the Winterset topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 41.3111° N, 94.0036° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleWinterset
Elevation921 ft
Nearest living townWinterset, IA
Distance to it2.8 miles
GNIS feature ID465494
Coordinates41.31110, -94.00356

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Buffalo is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Winterset, IA (population 5,384), about 2.8 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 921 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.