History of Postville

Organized March 11, A.D., 1873, under the General Laws of the State of Iowa

In 1840 Mr. Joel Post, a millwright from Conewango, Cattaraugus County, New York, obtained permission from General George M. Brooke, commanding officer at Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien, Wis., to occupy the government log shanty, or “half-way” house which had been built by the United States troops midway between Fort Crawford and Fort Atkinson, Iowa. It was located on a site about a mile northeast of the present town of Postville.

The First Settlement

The first settlement on the present site of Postville was made by Mr. Post and his wife, Zeruiah, when they moved, in June 1843, the government “Half-Way House” from its first location northeast of Postville to a site which is now the northwest corner of the intersection of Front Street and Maple Street. This “Half-Way House” was at first just a stopping place for government troops and teamsters. When Mr. Post took charge, it was also used as a tavern.

The nearest neighbors of the Posts were ten miles east, where the town of Monona is now and 24 miles west at Fort Atkinson. From 1840 to 1848 their only neighbors were the Indians, who were removed during the latter year. Settlements of a permanent nature began as soon as the land was surveyed.

On New Year’s Day, 1849, the first social party in the new settlement was held at the house of Mr. Post. Having spent eight years in frontier life with few neighbors, he thought the time had come when all should meet and become acquainted with the men and women who were to build up the new community with him.

Gen. A. C. Dodge, the U. S. Senator from Iowa, recommended the establishment of a post office in 1849 at the “Half-Way House” to be called Postville with Joel Post as postmaster. His appointment was made on January 19, 1849. Before his commission arrived Mr. Post died, leaving the duties of the post office to Mrs. Post’s brother.

After the death of her husband, Mrs. Post purchased the 480 acres of land from the government, which she and Mr. Post had located and partly improved.

Mrs. Post had an unusual marital career for a pioneer woman, having been married three times and divorced twice. She was married to Joel Post in 1831. After his death on January 24, 1849, she married a cousin to Joel Post. She later discovered he had a lawful wife living in Wisconsin and divorced him in 1851, the first recorded case in the Allamakee County District Court. Mrs. Post married for the third time in 1852, to George S. Hayward. He later left her and went to California. She divorced Hayward in 1864 and resumed her former name of Post. She continued a resident of Postville until her death on December 22, 1886.

Cabbage Hill

The busiest corner of Postville was once located on “Cabbage Hill” where St. Paul’s Lutheran Church now stands. From harvest to harvest, a never ending stream of wheat laden vehicles drove by on the old military road to McGregor, which at that time was the largest primary wheat market in this section of the United States.

The name “Cabbage Hill”, according to Hugh Shepherd, local historian, was given to the area by A. W. McDonald. However, most others disagree, giving credit to Bert Tuttle. If Bert didn’t give it the name, he surely did his best to publicize it by his frequent reference to it in the “Postville REVIEW”, while serving as editor of that paper. The origin of the name came from the fact that so many Germans had been moving to the hill during the latter part of the 19th century until that section of town was almost all people of German descent. Sauerkraut, being a very important part of their diet, necessitated the raising of a lot of cabbage; hence the name “Cabbage Hill.”

When the railroad entered Postville several blocks north of Cabbage Hill, it beckoned the business houses to come to their present location. To return to some of the history of the town on Cabbage Hill, it is necessary to return to the year 1847 and the half-way house; which at that time was the only settlement in the “neutral ground.” The Indians relinquished the “neutral grounds” to the white settlers by treaty in 1847.

The First School

The number of people locating in the vicinity of Postville was so great by the summer of 1848 that a school was started. Its classes were held in one of the rooms of the half-way house with 21 students in attendance; Mrs. Quinn was the first teacher. Also, the first religious services were held at the half-way house by Rev. Eldridge Howard, a Methodist minister who later served other parts of the surrounding counties.

Old Stone House & National Hotel

Post Township was surveyed in 1849 and during the fall of 1850. Mrs. Zeruiah Post made the legal entries for the area comprising the area of the present Town of Postville with some additional land. In 1855, Mr. Reuben Smith built a large two story stone house with a basement in the northeastern corner of Post Township. In 1924, it was taken over by the county for a public park. This was the Old Stone House. Mrs. Post completed the work on her new commodious “National Hotel” in 1857. The original hotel was torn down in 1928.

The First Election

The town was surveyed into lots in 1853 and the plat was filed under the name of Mr. and Mrs. George S. Hayward. Post Township was organized in 1851, but no records are available according to A. R. Prescott, the town’s first historian. The first election of any record was held in a blacksmith shop in April, 1852. Thirty-one votes were cast. Reuben Smith, Charles Bowman and A. J. Breedlove were chosen trustees; J. C. Thompson, township clerk; John McLaughlin, Justice of Peace and Anderson Amos, constable.

The Railroad

The “shot in the arm” that caused the sudden rise in the town’s prosperity was the coming of the McGregor and Western Railroad in the late summer of 1864. A large crowd was on hand to welcome the puffing, steaming train as it pulled into Postville.

Many individuals flocked here in hopes of making their nest egg in this new community. One was Hall Roberts who came here with his partner E. D. Holton in 1864. Roberts was 20 years old at the time. At once the community set about to take on a new look and within the next 30 years most of the business places were to desert “Cabbage Hill” and move closer to the railroad tracks. Later dwellings of one sort or another took their places and in 1891 the Lutheran Church was built.

Business

The first place of business found near the railroad tracks was a large grain elevator constructed by two adventurers from Prairie du Chien. The most important of these was John Lawler. The other partner was Joseph “Diamond Jo” Reynolds, the originator of the famous “Diamond Jo Steamboats” on the Mississippi River. The $26,000 building was completed late in 1864. It was built for the purpose of trying to get a corner on the wheat market and to serve as a central shipping point for this area of Iowa. In 1875 Hall Roberts purchased one-third interest in the company and later purchased the entire enterprise.

John Lawler seeing the prospects of a booming town here bought the north three-fourths of the land owned by Mrs. Post. This land was surveyed into town lots and was to become known as “Lawlers Addition to Postville.”

During the next few years many new buildings were built. By the beginning of 1874 the brick section extended from the corner of Lawler Street, west on Greene Street. Three buildings were built at this time at a total cost of $70,000. The first was a drug store which sold a few groceries. The second was a general merchandise store, and the third was a restaurant and saloon.

The first doctor to really make the community his home was Dr. L. Brown in 1866. F. S. Burling and H. A. Stowe opened their law office in 1872. The town’s first lumber yard was started by J. S. Mott in 1867.

Postville Grows Fast

By 1880 the population had jumped from about 50 (in 1860) to 832. The following story was told by Hugh Shepherd during this period:

The shoemaker of Springfield moved up to Postville and bought a home on West Greene St. He had a large family of six boys and a girl. Uncle Bennie Wells, as everyone called him, was a hard working man, as was his wife. And I want to pay her tribute to Mrs. Wells for her ingenuity. She made the first ice cream in Postville and sold it on the streets. They kept cows and on hot summer days Mrs. Wells would make as much as two gallons of ice cream and Uncle Bennie would tuck his apron up and get his wheelbarrow and the can of ice cream was loaded into it and Uncle Bennie would start downtown with dishes and spoons. “Home Made Ice Cream for 5” he would call out. One stopping place was on the east end of West Greene St. Bennie had a pail of water and towels to wash the dirty dishes. A few flies would light around the wheelbarrow and the ice cream. But, in those days, nobody cared about flies they hadn’t heard about them being a menace as today.

Postville is Incorporated and Government Esablished

The need developed for some type of community organization for the purpose of looking after the interests of its citizens and for promoting the welfare of its people. With this in mind the community’s leading citizens organized a local government and a charter of incorporation was filed with the State in 1873. The first mayor of the town was John S. Mott.

Pleasing the public became the council’s chief objective as one request after the other was brought to their attention. However, each time a few individuals were to be disappointed because the council did or didn’t do such and such, but as time progressed the community received from its council the equivalent services of any other town its size and received them quicker than many towns did. For instance, the first summer some three miles of board sidewalks were built, streets, graded, shade trees planted, much of the adjacent property was drained and several ordinances were passed for the protection of the rights of its citizens.

The town purchased the first fire-fighting equipment, a hook and ladder wagon made by a local outfit, in 1876. The town’s first fire house, the old hook and ladder frame building, was also built that same summer. The department’s second home was built in 1913 and later housed the library.

During this early period a bell was purchased, used as the town’s first warning device and the purpose of calling the first fire department together in case of a fire. A sixty foot tower was purchased in 1906 upon which the bells were placed to better hear them. The town’s first electric siren was purchased in 1923. The company purchased a fire truck in 1929 to motorize the department. The reason the fire siren is heard twice on week days and once on Sunday noon is to test the fire alarm, to see that it is in good working order. This has been done since 1927.

The work on the new water system was begun in 1894. John Thomas was supposedly the first person to make application for water, although Hugh Shepherd states that he was the first individual to receive water from the well. The coming of running water to the community brought the installation of the town’s first public bathroom (for men only) in the “Parker Barber Shop”. It was billed as “a place where men may take their Saturday night bath.” Bathrooms were also installed about this time in the Commercial Hotel.

…and then there was Light.

Prior to the 1890’s the streets of Postville were dark and lonely after the evening sunset. An occasional light or the moon would help steer the weary person as he felt his way along the village streets towards home. A frequent number of burglaries occurred in the town during that period. Things finally got so bad that it was necessary to hire a night watchman. The town paid half the salary and the business places the other half. Through the efforts of a few of its leading citizens, $104.50 was raised and 28 oil lamps were purchased. The city installed gas lights in 1903.

The city gas lights give Postville quite a metropolitan aspect. A few, of course, are disappointed that they are unable to read a newspaper by them two blocks away. But even then they have to admit, the gas is fully as good as an old smoked up kerosene lamp on the corner, that it took a lantern and search warrant to locate.

The lights never proved popular. An electric light franchise election was held in 1909 and passed by a large majority. Immediately all the business places began to make arrangements and even the Turner Society did the same with the hall early in the fall, long before the high lines had reached town. In December, 1909, the first lights were turned on in town at Thomas’ Drug store and the Nicolay & Durne Hardware. The following comment was made by the REVIEW editor:

They work like a charm, free from flicker, and as white as an old maid after she has been plastered up with two boxes of talcum power.

City Sidewalks & Streets

The first ordinance dealing with sidewalks came up in 1874. It provided for the building of certain sidewalks which were to be built of wood with 2 x 4’s as stringers. The boards nailed across the 2 x 4’s and serving as the walk were constantly breaking. But this remained the main type of sidewalk until after the nineteenth century. Many serious accidents resulted from these old wooden sidewalks. The first hard surfaced sidewalk was built in front of Harts and Meiers during the summer of 1899. Considerable excitement prevailed one summer when the extreme hot weather caused a cement sidewalk to break in Decorah, scaring a lot of people. This slowed up this type of sidewalk construction in Postville for some time, but by 1905 the movement was again well underway.

In the olden days, when nothing else was worth talking about, it was the condition of the town streets. In the spring and during the periods of bad or wet weather the rest of the year, there was mud up to the axle of the wagons and knee deep for the individual who was walking. In the summer it was dust that annoyed the people or the ruts in the street that hadn’t been king-dragged property. Many years it was the custom to make everyone work on the streets. A comment by the editor of the REVIEW in 1892, concerning the streets at the time:

Street Commissioner Schultz has a force on the streets and crossings, and we hope he will succeed in reducing the ruts so that a buggy will not be turned wrong side out if it is drawn faster than a walk.

In the summer of 1914 several streets were oiled. The oil and oiler at first were furnished by the Standard Oil Co. and the price of oiling was charged against the property owners. In 1919 a petition asked for the hard surfacing of certain streets and the council approved it. By the fall of 1921, the job of paving was completed to the satisfaction and happiness of most of the people. How nice it seemed to be able to drive down the streets without getting stuck on Main Street with the old “Model T” or the “Old Chevy.”

Memorial Hall

The Turner Society built their large hall in 1913. In 1940 they offered to sell the hall to the town for a very reasonable sum. Since the town could not purchase the building for town hall purposes alone, under the Iowa Code of laws, it had to be acquired through a different arrangement, whereby it was to serve as a memorial for the community’s veterans, hence the name “Memorial Hall.”

First Hospital

The community’s health became a vital issue during the 1930s when the former Schmidt institution was almost lost to the community by the death of its founder. It was founded by Dr. A. A. Schmidt in 1908 and operated by him in his home. In 1913 it was transferred to the former Mott house. During the mid 1920s, a ten room addition was made on the west side of the local hospital to meet the increased demands of the community. Finally a group of interested local men took it over and incorporated it in 1934 under the name of Postville Community Hospital. In 1941 the town took it over. In 1960 a beautiful new hospital was built through the efforts of many people and called the Community Memorial Hospital.

First Newspaper

During the early period there was no newspaper. The function was carried on instead by the regular community gossip circles, such as they might pick up and carry home as the stood and talked around the “pot-bellied” stoves, or drank a glass of beer or whiskey in the village saloon. Most of the national and state news were brought into the community by letters from friends of relatives and strangers passing through.

During the early 1870s, F. M. McCormack from Decorah became interested in beginning a weekly newspaper in Postville. After a meeting of the chief citizens, a name was selected and the first issue of the “Postville Review” came off the press on March 19, 1873. He sold his interests in 1875 to W. N. Burdick who published it until his death in 1901 when it passed on to his sons, A. E. and A. S. Burdick. They continued to publish it until it ceased in 1921.

The “Iowa Volksblatt” served the community for many years. There was a large influx of German people in this area who could not read or write the English language but most of them could read or write German. They discussed the subject of a German newspaper with their pastor, Rev. J. Gass. In 1891 Rev. Gass began the publication of the “Iowa Volksblatt.” In 1895 he transferred the management of the paper to his printers, Henry Brechler and Guxtav Dietsch of Milwaukee, Wis. By this time the paper was well established. Mr. Dietsch bought his partners share in 1897 and conducted the paper alone until 1908 when he sold his plant and office building to Paul Ronneburger and Sam Hoesly of Monroe, Wis.

William J. Klingbeil of Monroe purchase Sam Hoesly’s half interest in the paper on June 1, 1914. In 1918 he also bought Mr. Ronneburgers’ interest, changed the name to the “Postville Herald” and began to publish in English rather than German. In order to ensure success of his new paper he employed the dean of Postville’s newsmen, Bert Tuttle of the “Review”. Bert served as assistant and managing editor for over 55 years. He probably knew more about Postville and the papers on which he worked than any other individual in the community. It is said that he alone got Ringling Brothers Circus to come to Postville in 1916.

Klingbeil served as editor and publisher of the paper until 1948 with the exception of about two years. He sold his interest in the paper to C. W. DeGarmo and Fred L. Martin.

New School

A new school was built in 1955, called Cora B. Darling Elementary School in honor of the teacher who taught primary school in Postville for many years. The John R. Mott High School was erected in 1963.