Post Offices

Post Office 51347 (Lake Park, Iowa)

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Around 250 people showed up on October 22, 1966, in the Lake Park Town Hall for dedication ceremonies for the new post office building. The ceremony included a keynote address from U.S. Congressman Stanley Greigg, who explained how the new Lake Park Post Office was built under the U.S. Postal Service’s lease construction program, where facilities remain under private ownership, pay local taxes, and are leased to the government.

Greigg also commended the community of Lake Park, which had rebounded from a main street fire in 19623. The blaze destroyed the local bowling alley, cafe and only department store, but by the time of dedication the bowling alley and cafe were rebuilt and the department store moved across the street. The ceremony was concluded with an open house of the new postal building. Coffee and donuts were furnished by the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce.

Churches

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (Haverhill, Iowa)

Immaculate Conception parish in the Marshall County town of Haverhill can trace its history to October 20, 1877, when a meeting was held among twelve German- and nine English-speaking families to establish a Catholic church. By 1879, a small frame church was completed a mile west of the present site at a cost of $1,285. As part of an extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad, the town of Haverhill was officially platted in 1881, and the building was relocated to the present church site.

The parish grew to 73 families by 1900, and quickly the frame church was too small to accommodate the congregation; ground was broken for the present church the following year. Constructed in the Gothic design, the red brick and white stone building measured 48 x 118 feet with a 13-story tower. The new church was formally dedicated on October 22, 1902. As noted in the Haverhill, Iowa, centennial book, “the day was ideal… clear and bright after several days of rain.”

After 105 years of services, a final mass of closing was held at Immaculate Conception on Sunday, July 1, 2007. The church was designated an Oratory, allowing funerals and weddings of the certified membership only. Masses are held each May and December.

Public Libraries

Meehan Memorial Public Library (Lansing, Iowa)

Library services began in the Allamakee County town of Lansing in 1912, when the Lansing Library Association was organized. The group quickly found space on Main Street and allowed local residents to check out books from the library at a cost of $1 per year. Two local women’s groups managed the organization until 1935, when the library was given to the city and the Lansing Public Library was officially established.

The Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library was dedicated in August 2005. Funds for the building were provided by the namesake, the Meehan family, from nearby Harpers Ferry.

American Legion Posts

American Legion Post No. 632 (Melcher-Dallas, Iowa)

In 1924, an American Legion post was chartered with initial meetings held in the Miners Hall. Named as a combination of the once-independent towns of Dallas and Melcher, post membership grew significantly following World War II and a permanent space was needed. The organization bought the Melcher Union Building, and has since expanded it twice. The hall has been used as a meeting place, for wedding receptions, senior citizens affairs, a voting hall, and more.

Businesses

Hull Brothers Store (Paris/Bunch, Iowa)

When a fire ravaged the Davis County community of Paris (Bunch) in April 1912, the Hull brothers immediately began reconstructing their general store building. Shortly after construction of the concrete block building was finished, the Quigley family purchased and renamed the general store, which also housed the local post office. In 1972, the store changed hands one final time when it was sold to resident George Hopkins. Operations ceased later that decade, though the business survived more than 10 years after the railroad left the town and 20 years after the post office was discontinued.

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