The Bank of Clemons began in 1901 with a $10,000 capital in a modest wooden building in the business district in Clemons, Iowa. A grandiose two-story brick building was constructed next door, a sign of the bank’s success. By 1927, bank deposits had grown in excess of $340,000. The Bank’s success was short-lived, however, and its doors were closed on August 17, 1931. The Clemsons Saving Bank was one of over a thousand Iowa banks to be closed around the time of the Great Depression.
The building was used as a branch office for the nearby Union-Whitten Savings Bank until 1945. When that office shuttered, the building was first repurposed as a restaurant before being used as a doctor’s office for nearly 40 years. In 1974, the Union-Whitten Savings Bank gave the building to the community of Clemons. The building now serves as the Clemons Community Center.
By 1902, the Sioux County supervisors appointed Alton native Wilfred Beach as the architect for the construction of a new courthouse. A construction contract was signed later that year, but work quickly halted when the Sioux City-based construction company went bankrupt. A new team was appointed to oversee the project, and the new courthouse building was successfully completed in October 1904. Considered a fine example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the state, the three-story, red sandstone building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Like many small Iowa communities, the 41 residents in the Calhoun County town of Jolley consider the post office to be not only a place to pick up mail – but also a social gathering place to interact with other members of the community. The 1983 book Jolley: The First 100 Years pays tribute to the services the small-town Post Office (and its postmaster) provide:
The townspeople greatly appreciate the many services the postmasters have given us over the years that would never have been available in a large post office. If one forgets to address one’s letter, they let you know. If the postage isn’t correct, they put a note in your box so you can take care of it, and if you’ve been looking for a package, they might even call you and tell you that it came. If someone in the community dies, they post a sign by the window, and if you need something notarized, they provide the service. Many thanks to these fine people.
Leann I. Hawks has served as the postmaster of Jolley since 1993; postal service was first established to the Calhoun County community in September 1883.
Located between Dubuque and Maquoketa on U.S. Highway 61 is the small town of Zwingle, population 91, which has the distinction of being alphabetically the last community in the state. Less than 10 years after the area of Zwingle was first settled, construction began on a modest, 1,200 square-foot church building in September 1855. The $1,500 facility was dedicated in May 1856, and held the distinction of being the first reformed church constructed west of the Mississippi River; it has since been significantly expanded and renovated.
Along with the building, the three-acre church site also contains a cemetery and a parsonage, which was constructed in 1976, six years after the Harmony Church formally began its affiliation with the United Church of Christ. While the membership once exceeded 200, the church now has about 50 members.
When the Garwood Theatre closed its doors in 1978, the public library in the Clayton County community of Garnavillo moved down a floor to the main level of the former theatre building. The restroom, magazines, and information desk sit where the concession stand and ticket area once were, while the former auditorium space now contains the library’s adult fiction, non-fiction, and reference sections, plus audiobooks, videos, CDs and public computers. Finally, a children’s section occupies the back portion of the building, a space once used by the Garnavillo fire department.
Featuring a new Iowa photo each weekday; dedicated to discovering and documenting the best of small-town Iowa.
