In 1954, a new community building was constructed in the Jasper County town of Lynnville to house the city hall, post office, and fire station. The post office left the building in favor of a standalone facility in 1966, creating the opportunity for the Lynnville Public Library to move into the space. In 1995, the city council appointed a committee of citizens to undertake fundraising efforts for a new fire station and remodel the old station for a new library. The new fire station facility was completed in February 1996, while the new library space debuted in April.
When the existing community hall space was deemed not functional in 1926, a petition was filed with the town council to construct a new community center. A special election was held that October and passed overwhelmingly with a vote of 89-22. The large center was designed to feature a dance hall on the main floor, council meeting room on the first floor and jail and storage space in the basement.
The Community Hall was completed for under $6,000 and considered an immediate success, one of the finest ballrooms in the area. The hall has held a number of events over its seventy-five year history including roller skating, movies, social gatherings, weddings, dances, and more. While reconfigured since its initial construction, the New Vienna Community Hall continues to serve the community today.
Named for the original proprietor Daniel Martin, the Keokuk County community of Martinsburg was platted in 1855. With a population of 112, the resident count has been in a continual decline since its peak at 332 in 1900. The pictured City Hall was erected in 1968 in the park where the first school had been located. In addition to city meetings, the hall serves as a polling place for town residents.
This modest but well-maintained building serves as the City Hall for the quaint Union County town of Cromwell, population 107. Like many small towns in Iowa, Cromwell was once a bustling village, as noted in a copy of the Creston Gazette from March 1898:
The town has been a good trading and shipping point for years and the volume of business transacted is quite large. Cromwell has two or three general stores, a lumber yard, hardware establishment, restaurant, hotel, grain offices and several stock buyers. A fine school building adorns the village and there are three church buildings, Methodist, Congregational and Christian. The town is incorporated and governed by a mayor and city council. It is an enterprising little place and is home of a number of retired farmers who have built comfortable residences.
Cromwell is the oldest town to be platted in the western half of Union County, laid out in the spring of 1869, a few years prior to the county seat of Creston.
Located 30 miles southeast of Sioux City on State Highway 141 is the town of Hornick, a community with 253 residents and a handful of businesses and organizations. Hornick was named for a local landowner and established by the Milwaukee Land Company in April 1887. The first Hornick Post Office opened a few months later on June 8, 1887.
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