TIMES ARE CHANGING BELIEVE IT OR NOT There probably are within every communities history stories of characters or individuals that have done or attempted to do what is seemingly out of the ordinary. In this regard Steamboat Rock was no exception. In the fall of 1851, W.C. Rice came from […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING FIRST CREAMERY Thomas Neesen’s merchandise business proved to be profitable for him, but he had always dreamed of one daystarting a creamery, and in 1878 he decided to do so. He purchased the necessary machinery and equipment. In addition he bought two teams of horses, a team […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING A CALL FOR EXPANSION There was a call within the county for manufacturers, and woolen mills in 1878. In addition there was also a call for papermills and pork-packing establishments or factories of any kind. Cheese and butter factories were being erected. It was noted that twelve […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING THE WINTER OF ‘75 The winter of 1875, was very severe in central Iowa, and area homesteaders suffered and endured many hardships. It was especially bad in the open countryside that had been claimed from the prairie a scant 20 years earlier. Cold stormy weather took a grip […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING A RAILROAD TRAGEDY In June of 1875, as a note of interest Charles Quick was taking telegraphy lessons from station agent A. L. Leonard. Charles was the brother of earlier quoted Herbert Quick. In December, Mr. A. L. Leonard was run over by a freight train near […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING TROUBLE IN RIVER CITY In June of 1875, a man by the name of Ellis and his son were charged with murder. The Reform Herald stated in the June 6 issue, “Mr. Ellis and son are in a peck of trouble. First they were arrested for assault with […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION As one added note I include a couple of interesting paragraphs that appeared in the Eldora Reform Herald on January 24, 1875, “Beer is the principal article of express matter received in Steamboat Rock now-a-days. Some folks use it to wash down the instant death […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING THE TOWN IS INCORPORATED The pioneers of Hardin county were  a mixed group of nations, characters, languages, conditions and opinions. There was hardly a State in the existing Union that was not represented among the early settlers. All the various religious sects had their advocates here too. […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING STEAMBOAT ROCK NEWS The first of three newspapers that would be published in Steamboat Rock was The Steamboat Rock News, and printed its first issue on July 25, 1871. Its publisher was Isaac L. Hart, who had been printing the Eldora Tribune. The businesses that advertised or were […]

TIMES ARE CHANGING BANKING  One of the longest running businesses in Steamboat Rock, the Farmers Exchange Bank moved into this building around 1870. Steamboat Rock’s first bank opened it’s doors in the late 1860’s and was incorporated as the Farmers Exchange bank on February 3, 1871. Though the name and […]