TIMES ARE CHANGING IMPROVED FARMING One of the most noticeable improvements in farming was that farmers began to realize the necessity of well drained land. Many miles of drain tile began to be laid about 1876. The benefit was large increases in crops being harvested from the same number of […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING THE GRAIN BUSINESS  The Turner Elevator was built by D.W. Turner and A.A. Noyes, shortly after the railroad arrived in Steamboat Rock. People continued to arrive, and some passed by. Coming from the east in covered wagons they passed up the good prairie farm land as it […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING TRAIN WRECK The article states that a north bound freight that leaves the Eldora Station at 10:08 a.m. was supposed to wait for 40 minutes for a south bound freight that was running behind time. Both the conductor and engineer of #11 thought they could make it […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING THE RAILROAD   Scarcely had our town come into existence when in 1856 a bill was passed in Congress providing land grants to finance four railways across Iowa from the Mississippi to the Missouri. There was already a formidable network of lines east of the Mississippi, that […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING A COUNTY FAIR A man by the name of George Mossman, of Pleasant township pushed for the organization of an Agricultural Society. After several years he was successful. This organization led to the first county fair being held. It took place at the court house in Eldora, […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING CIVIL WAR VETERANS A.J. Hadden    1837-1866Asher W. Park    1819-1866Charles T. Voiles     18– – 1866Frank E. Root    1842-1868Joseph Roberts    1833-1870A.A. Campbell    1831-1878Mason O. Smith    1813-1879Asel M. Wickham    1810-1880Geo. Briggs Alden    1842-1892Peter Banagin    1835-1892Thomas J. Riley    1843-1899Albert L. […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING THE CIVIL WAR We are all acquainted with the circumstances that led the nation into the Civil War, 1861 to 1865. While there was a certain amount of division in every state and community, for the most part all in Hardin county, were fully behind the Union. […]

Natural Resources RICH FERTILE SOIL There is no greater natural resource than the rich Iowa soil around Steamboat Rock. The earliest recorded breaking of Hardin county virgin soil by the white man was in autumn of 1849 in what is now Union township, by Greenberry Haggin. The next spring about a […]

Natural Resources WILDLIFE Another resource that the early settlers enjoyed was an abundance of wild game. Many of them brought a cow or two, a few pigs, and some poultry. They were breeding stock, and were not available for food until their herds and flocks were established. This made the […]

Natural Resources GOLD In years after California’s gold rush, a rumor began to spread that gold had been found in Hardin County. Farmers neglected their fields to wield picks and shovels. Prairie schooners brought prospectors, but no one struck “pay dirt” and the excitement died down nearly as quickly and […]