The first post office in the Jasper County seat of Newton was established in 1847, one year after the new county was commissioned. City delivery was established in 1899, with rural delivery from the Newton Post Office beginning in 1907. After a number of locations, including a rented building which was condemned in the early part of the twentieth century, the current facility was constructed in 1970.
Featuring a large loading platform and truck bed level, the one-story brick building contained over 21,000 square feet of space. The building may have been too big and too soon, as mail that was previously sorted in Newton was redirected to Des Moines around this time. Postal workers employed at the Newton location declined from 50 to 40 within a few years of opening the new building.
In 1862, a young girl named Jane Ashton died of tuberculosis and was buried on her father’s homestead in rural Jasper County, just north of present-day Mingo. Others asked to bury their loved ones at the peaceful site, leading Jane’s father James to officially establish a public cemetery at the spot in 1871. Twenty-six years later, two of James’ grandsons circulated a petition to raise funds for construction of a church on the site. After collection pledges ranging from a quarter to a hundred dollars, a building committee was appointed and construction began on the $1,500 building the following year. A dedication service was held in April 1898 for the new Ashton Chapel.
The church is still active today with services at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays.
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.
This modest community center anchors a well-maintained park in the unincorporated Jasper County town of Ira. The town dates to 1883, after a plat was drawn to coincide with the Chicago and Great Western Railroad’s placement of a depot and water tank. Owner William F. Rippey proposed the new town be named after him, but a community of the same name already existed. After a second choice (Millard) was also rejected, Ira was agreed upon, and in 1884, a post office opened under that name. The reason for Ira’s name is now a mystery: some suggest it was named of a railroad superintendent while others attribute the name to a local resident.
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.
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