How did Barnum & Bailey Circus performers prepare for a show when they came to Marshalltown in 1913? A fishing trip to Stanley Mill, an automobile trip to Albion for dinner, and a Mulligan down by the Iowa River.
In 1910 New Market, Iowa, was a bustling community of 673 residents. There was plenty of competition among all the business owners; but when one went missing in the middle of the night in October 1913, everyone came out to search for him.
“I am here to be locked up,” E.P. Hessenius proclaimed as he walked into the warden’s office at the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison in October 1914.
Forest City, Iowa, home of Winnebago Industries—well-known for bringing modern camping innovations to Iowa in the 1950s. But long before anyone had heard of Winnebago campers, a man in another Iowa community was gaining recognition for his design of a “camping car”—or “land yacht” as some called it.
Private Harry Ross' family believed he was discharged from military duty and sent back to the United States. That’s where Private Ross’ trail goes cold. He never returned to Des Moines where his mother eagerly awaited his arrival.
“The Rural School Problem,” “Rural Schools Ought to Be Abandoned,” “What to Do With Small Schools” — In some ways news headlines in the 20th century were not much different than those of the 21st century. Education issues were hot news items.
Rev. George Cyphert Tally of Keokuk County was described as having as a “rugged, forceful, crude” man with “more zeal than discretion” but also a gifted orator. In the midst of the Civil War, the preacher started a confrontation between local Copperheads and Union supporters that required interventi
Yank Magazine, a military weekly news magazine published during World War II, ran a lengthy spread on the 34th Division in March 1945. Although men from all over the United States comprised the 34th, at one time it had been densely populated with Iowan and the writer of the article titled “Iron Man
An Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem, "Enoch Arden," tells the story of a man shipwrecked on an island for 10 years who returns home to find his wife happily married to his childhood friend. Never revealing himself to his wife, he dies of a broken heart. During the U.S. Civil War, this work of fiction came
