This modest metal sign welcomes visitors to the Jasper County community of Valeria, highlighting the railroad romance that led to its establishment. In the early 1860s, the William H. Johnson family left the South to escape the atmosphere and attitudes of the Civil War, and settled at the present-day site of Valeria. William’s son Nicholas and his sister Edna Valeria would play key roles in the birth of the village.
Edna fell in love with a young civil engineer named McBride, who worked for the Chicago and Great Western Railroad. She and her beau convinced her father to allow the tracks to cross the Johnson land. An agreement was reached based on the condition that the community’s depot would be known as Valeria. The couple ultimately married, though McBride left the railroad to become a dentist.
Brother Nicholas entered into a real estate venture, and his signature appears on the papers that officially platted the town in 1883 and on abstracts of present property owners in Valeria. Its population peaked at 96 in 1970; the community is now home to 57 residents.
Published October 31, 2011 |
Town Signs |
After over 102 years of service, the Gruver Post Office was suspended on November 30, 2002. Residents can now get mail curbside or at these cluster boxes, located outside a brick garage across the street from the Gruver City Hall and Fire Department building. The nearest full service post office is in Estherville, located seven miles west of Gruver.
Published October 28, 2011 |
Post Offices |
Emmet County
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On April 26, 1866, a meeting was held in the now non-existant Wapello County hamlet of Competine to establish a new Baptist Church. The meeting was initiated by twelve former members of Baptist churches in the nearby towns of Martinsburg and Fremont, and charter members totaled 27. After a few meetings in the local school house, a permanent church was constructed in June 1867. After burning to the ground in 1891, a committee was appointed to solicit funds for a new building. The new and larger church building was dedicated December 11, 1893.
By June 1908, church members determined the church would be better suited in the growing (but unincorporated) community of Farson, one mile to the west. full basement and foundation was put into place and in October 1908, the church was moved via horses and rollers to its new location. The first meeting in Farson was January 2, 1909, and the church was rededicated on January 24. The church has seen a few changes over the years, including the removal of the steeple and creation of a ground-level entryway. The original steeple bell is mounted on a brick foundation in front of the church.
Published October 27, 2011 |
Churches |
After sixty years of operation, the public library in the Kossuth County town of Lakota moved to its current location on May 9, 1981. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house were held at the new location, after the Lakota City Council and Library Board agreed to switch locations. The library inherited the former town hall, which was constructed as a project of the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. Many volunteers contributed time and labor toward the $15,000 interior remodeling project, which included new painting, shelving, and the repurposing of no-longer-needed city jail space.
In 2000, an open house celebrated recent State of Iowa accreditation, along with new carpet, painting, and restroom improvements.
Published October 26, 2011 |
Public Libraries |
On July 1, 1930, patrons to the bank in the Taylor County community of Gravity were greeted by the following notice posted to the front door:
In view of the continued financial drain due largely to short crops of the last year of this community, the Board of Directors of this bank voted to close the same for the protection of the depositors and all concerned.
The Gravity Independent from July 3 notes no direct statements have been made by bank officials, though a meeting was held between the bank’s Board of Directors and Henry Erwin, a state bank examiner. The paper was “assured that the condition of the bank is better… than it was two years ago, and that the depositors will fare better… than they would have if the institution closed at that time.”
The Taylor County town wasn’t without a bank for long: In 1931, a bank of the then-Sharpsburg-based State Savings Bank opened a branch in the Gravity building. As Gravity’s population declined, bank operating hours were shortened before the Gravity office closed entirely in the 1990s.
Published October 25, 2011 |
Banks |
