In 1898, Farmers Savings Bank was organized with a capital of $10,000 in the Humboldt County community of Ottosen. After starting in a small brick building, the bank moved to an adjacent two-story building in 1901 and relocated again in 1914. During its second relocation, a secure vault was constructed featuring 12-inch concrete walls. The bank closed its doors October 1, 1926; all that remains today is the pictured vault.
Bayard was one of five Guthrie County communities to receive postal service in 1882, with the operations officially beginning at the first post office on March 20. Named after Delaware senator James A. Bayard, Jr., the town was founded a month earlier by the Milwaukee Land Company. Bayard was formally incorporated as a city on June 14, 1883.
The Mingo United Methodist Church can trace its history to the hamlet of Greencastle, a mile to the southeast of the Jasper County town of Mingo. When the railroad choose a route through Mingo instead of Greencastle, store, homes, and the Methodist Church moved north. In 1898, the current church was constructed, a block east of the downtown area. The building has seen a number of upgrades since opening, including a 1967 addition of a kitchen, nursery room and new classrooms. The church shares a pastor with the United Methodist Church in the nearby unincorporated town of Farrar.
The public library in the Clarke County town of Murray was organized in April 1935 by resident Leila Kane. Kane worked with local organizations to create plans and secure funds to setup the library, which opened in the IOOF building with a collection of 35 books. The Murray Lions Club played a significant role in growing the library by collecting 1,000 books in a book drive then providing space in their building, where the library remained until the early 1970s. The library then moved to its current location, sharing space with the community center.
After three years in Burlington, a committee chose Iowa City as the site of the new Iowa territory capital in 1839. An architecture and construction contract was awarded shortly after, with the cornerstone laid on July 4, 1840. Four rooms were complete by December 1942, when the territorial legislature met in the building for the first time. Iowa officially became the 29th state in the union on December 28, 1846, with Iowa City retaining capital city status for the next eleven years.
When the state capitol was moved to Des Moines in December 1857, the Old Capitol became the first permanent building of The University of Iowa. The site housed the entire university until 1863, when the school’s second building was occupied. Renovations were made to the building in the 1920s, 1970s, and 1990s, with contractors on the final project accidentally setting the dome on fire. While damage was limited to the dome area, the building did not officially reopen to the public until 2006.
The building now houses the Old Capitol Museum, which is open to the public six days a week.