A chemical fire engine marked the first piece of fire fighting equipment ordered for the Crawford County town of Ricketts. At the same time, fire alarm boxes were purchased, and one was given to each member of the fire department. The first engine house was constructed in 1905, with a tower and fire bell added in May 1908. Water mains were laid in 1908, and the first Ricketts community fire truck was purchased in 1930. The present Fire Station and City Hall building was constructed in 1971.
The Mitchell County town of Carpenter saw its post office close its doors on April 3, 2009, after nearly 140 years in the community. Though postal service dated to 1871, when Postmaster Tom Hagen retired, no one was available to replace him. The sign was removed and outdoor metal boxes were added for residents to pick up their mail. The nearest post office is in the town of St. Ansgar, six miles away.
The first Catholic church in the Warren County town of St. Marys was constructed in 1870 at a cost of $1,000. The basic building served the congregation until the present church was built in 1900. A parochial school was operated between 1891 and 1919, before consolidating with the local public school district. The church is now served by a priest based in Indianola.
About 260 Guttenburg schoolchildren cut class on May 18, 1989, to help move more than 15,000 books to the new public library. The new building featured five times the space of the previous location, an 800-square-foot room inside the town’s municipal building. The $250,000 brick building was constructed without federal or state funding; the majority of funds were raised in advance, with an April 1988 bond measure providing the last $65,000 for the building. The library opened the day after the move, with a formal dedication held on July 1, 1989.
Former Iowa Governor William and Anna Larrabee spent many years studying school buildings before creating plans to build a state-of-the-art school facility in their hometown of Clermont. Groundbreaking began on the $100,000 brick building in May 1912. The Clermont website details interior features:
The floors of the vestibule and halls are terraza with wainscoting of white Rutland marble with sufficient veins of red and green to show warmth. The stairs also have marble treads and metal railings finished in dark green. All glass is plate – with nearly 5 ton in the entire building. Each classroom has blackboards of extra heavy Pennsylvania slate. The Auditorium… walls and ceiling are white, decorated with staff and bead and rosette designs.
The Larrabee Building served as a community school until 1990. When classes were consolidated to a single school building constructed between Clermont and nearby Elgin, the building was repurposed to serve the community. The public library moved in in 1991. The building also houses city offices, the police department, and the Sheehan-Olson American Legion Post.