to protests from residents, in February 1955 the closure was cancelled. Donnan did, however, lose its school in 1957; The hotel at Donnan had been moved to Sumner in 1947 and the building was converted into apartments. Lynn J. Webb served as Donnan's postmaster up until his death in 1955; Webb also ran the filling station and general store run out of the same building. Gertrude Menuey served as postmaster from 1955 to the 1970s. Eileen Lee was the postmaster during the 1980s. A. L. Begalske served as mayor of Donnan until his death in 1955. Matthew Porter was appointed mayor after Begalske's death, and served for the next 35 years. Ruth Holmes was the town clerk, Margaret Gage the treasurer. Decline Gradually, even the small population of Donnan eroded, leaving the town with fewer than 25 residents in 1970, and just 18 in 1972. All businesses except the post office had closed by the early 1970s. County road W-25, a paved highway from nearby Randalia to the county seat at West Union bypassed Donnan's main street, New Donnan Road, in the early 1970s. By 1977, Donnan consisted of "an abandoned grain elevator, an unused railroad depot, three farms, four occupied houses, and a few empty buildings". The Rock Island Railroad tracks at Donnan were pulled up in 1977. By 1978, the town's population had dropped to 13. That year Donnan residents celebrated the city's 100th anniversary. Donnan's few remaining residents fought "long, hard, and unsuccessfully" to keep the post office open. By 1982, however, postal officials prevailed. When the post office closed, on July 23, 1982, commemorative covers prepared by the Iowa Postal History Society gave the town's population as ten. Residents resisted the closing of the last business in Donnan "because [Donnan] citizens love it and hate to see it die", Mayor Porter said in 1988. In 1990, the last seven residents made national headlines when they reluctantly voted to disincorporate, ending their town's status as an officially recognized city. At the disincorporation hearing Matt Porter, who had served as the town's mayor for 35 years, stated "Three of us are in our 70s and sooner or later it's got to come. There's no one else to carry on". Donnan ceased to exist in March 1991; the final vote was 6 to 1 in favor of disincorporation. A monument on New Donnan Road pays tribute to the empty