A CENTURY DRAWS TO A CLOSE GRAND DECORATIONS “Talk about decorations! From actual observations the Echo man is prepared to state the he has never saw the like of it in Eldora, Iowa Falls, or any other town in the county.”    “The glorious red, white and blue were everywhere […]

A CENTURY DRAWS TO A CLOSE A GRAND CELEBRATION There was a grand celebration held in Steamboat Rock for the Fourth of July in 1898, which by all descriptions had never been equaled before or since.    It seems that the reason for such a celebration being held on this […]

A CENTURY DRAWS TO A CLOSE FIRE DEPARTMENT BEGINS The first fire fighting apparatus the town of Steamboat Rock had consisted of two 30 gallon steel water tanks of a cylindrical shape some 15 inches in diameter and six feet in length. These were mounted on a two wheel cart […]

A CENTURY DRAWS TO A CLOSE TOWN JAIL DESTROYED BY FIRE On Sunday evening November 17, 1897 the jail in Steamboat Rock was destroyed by fire. The jail was used for little more than a holding tank for drunkards and a place to lock up the tramps that came into […]

A CENTURY DRAWS TO A CLOSE WE’VE COME A LONG WAY At the beginning of the new year 1898, an article appeared in the Steamboat Rock Echo entitled “An Historic & Business Town.” In the Friday , January 7 issue Mr. A.S. Root was interviewed and he gave his description […]

A CENTURY DRAWS TO A CLOSE As the Century drew to a close, Steamboat Rock was 45 years old. And an amazing 45 years it was. From a wilderness on the edge of civilization a town had grown. Hard working people in trying to build a life for themselves had […]

THE 1880’S IMMIGRATION AND OUTLAWS THE ICE BUSINESS   No one is certain as to when the Ice business in Steamboat Rock actually began. In February of 1890, the Eldora Herald carried an article stating that the Creve Coevr Company of St. Louis was harvesting 50 to 60 cars of […]

THE 1880’S IMMIGRATION AND OUTLAWS SCHOOL CONTINUES EXPANSION   There are no record books of the period between 1870 and 1898. During most of these twenty-eight years the school consisted of only 10 grades which were divided among the four rooms. According to the History of Hardin County, there were […]

THE 1880’S IMMIGRATION AND OUTLAWS CHURCH GROWTH The Methodist Episcopal church building built in 1893, and remodeled in 1897. With all that had happened in the early 1880’s one might think that the churches in Steamboat Rock had all closed. This was not the case at all. It seems however […]

THE 1880’S IMMIGRATION AND OUTLAWS THE MEDICAL PROFESSION Dr. J. W. Caldwell  As the 1880’s were ushered in there were two doctors in the community. Dr. Moab C. Caldwell, came in 1879. Dr. Caldwell, practiced for one year when he was joined by his son, who had recently completed medical […]