The community of Beacon feels like a suburb to Oskaloosa, the county seat of Mahaska County in southeast Iowa. Along with nearby University Park, it’s one of two incorporated cities located just outside of the Oskaloosa city limits. Beacon’s a mostly residential town, save a construction business, Methodist Church, and the pictured Post Office. Postal service was established in Beacon in 1866; the location was known as Givin and Oskaloosa Junction before the Beacon name was established in April 1867.