The first Methodist church was organized in the Page County town of Shambaugh in 1885, following a successful revival meeting held in the community. Work completed on the first church building in 1891, a frame structure measuring 30 x 44 feet constructed at a cost of $1,000. The present church was moved to its present location in 1917, which featured a new basement containing a furnace room, kitchen and fellowship hall. The church was dedicated at its new site in 1918.
The first public library in the Cedar County town of Clarence was established in 1940 and occupied a room in the town hall. To accommodate an expanding collection of books, two jail cells were removed from the town hall in favor of additional library space. In 1952, resident Edna Zybell donated her former home for use as the library, where it has been located since.
A committee was formed in January 2011 to review library expansion options; by October, the committee determined expansion of the home was not feasible. A lot along U.S. Highway 30 has been selected for construction of a new library. An architectural plan is pending, but aggressive fundraising efforts are underway to generate money for the building project.
To make a donation to the library project, send a check payable to the Library Building Fund to: Edna Zybell Library, P.O. Box 450, Clarence, Iowa 52216.
The Capitol Theater debuted in the Jasper County seat of Newton on April 30, 1927 with 995 seats between the main floor and balcony. This number has decreased over the years, including when changes made to show films with sound in 1929, the installation of air-conditioning in 1937, and a new screen for widescreen shows in 1952. In March 1953, the Capitol was equipped to show 3-D movies, but the phenomenon was short-lived and only a few features were shown in 3-D.
In the spring of 1988, an announcement was made that the theater was converted into two separate screening rooms, allowing for a larger number of first-run films to be shown each week. The trend was common nationwide, and construction was completed by the end of the year.
Fremont County’s first brick courthouse was established in the seat of Sidney in 1860 and served the county for nearly three decades before being destroyed by arson May 16, 1888. Though Hamburg and Farragut attempted to gain county seat status, in November 1888, a majority of county voters approved a property tax increase for funds to construct a new courthouse in Sidney at a cost.
In March 1889, S.E. Maxon of Council Bluffs was appointed the architect and the building contract was awarded to a firm in nearby Nebraska City, Nebraska; construction was completed the following year. The Fremont Courthouse, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, has seen only a handful of modifications since construction.
The Pottawattamie County town of Crescent got its name because of the shape of the bluffs near the town site. First settled by Mormons in 1856, a prosperous future was anticipated due to its proximity to the Missouri River. The WPA Guide to Iowa, written in 1938, suggested the “town had ceased to grow” as businessmen decided to build in Council Bluffs instead of Crescent. While Crescent remains a small community in comparison to the county seat of Council Bluffs, it’s population (537) has more than doubled since the book was written.