A History of Villisca, Iowa
Compiled by Audrea Higgins
Chapter One -
Villisca, Our Town
There are no residents living in Villisca
today who can recall our town’s beginnings. To
those of us living in our modern, comfortable homes in this rich, agricultural community,
it seems almost impossible to visualize the early days.
Villisca was once an Indian hunting
grounds. Here it was that Native Americans
paddled their canoes in the Nodaway Rivers and hunted the millions of buffalo and wild
animals and game that were most abundant on the prairies.
The great [Ioway] Indian Chief, Mahaska, made his home on one of the Nodaway
Rivers.
It was about 1848 to 1850 that the first
settlers came to this community. Glowing
accounts of rich farm lands and abundant timber lands appeared in the eastern city
newspapers, enticing people from Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee, New York,
and Pennsylvania to the Midwestern prairies. From
the timbers they could cut wood for homes and heat their homes. Shade from the trees would cool their home during
the hot months of summer, and the rich black soil would raise crops for livestock and an
abundance of vegetables and fruits as well.
In 1853, a company of people arrived by
prairie schooner from Highland County, Ohio. I
have been told that they had wintered at St. Joseph, Missouri, then came in the spring to
southwest of Villisca and started a community to be known as “The Forks”. The name was derived from the merging of the waters
of the Middle Nodaway and West Nodaway Rivers.
“The Forks” families consisted of
Ed Moore, Sr., Uncle Jimmy Carlisle, Aunt Marilla Lightbody, and Thomas Moore. In 1861, came Elijah Overman, Elizabeth Davis,
Charles and George West, and John Spargur. Lydia
Lightbody taught the first school at the Forks in 1859.
Northwest of Villisca, on the west banks of
the West Nodaway River, settled the Dunns, Wests, Bakers, Means, and later the Gourleys. Now remember, that in saying regions near our town,
that there was no town yet established where Villisca is now located. This is mentioned just to locate for you the places
of early settlements.
One of the very earliest settlers was John
Ross, who settled northwest of Villisca in 1851. John
Ross moved from Page County, Iowa, where he had been since his arrival to this area in
1846 from Ohio. He was known to have built a
shanty at least twenty miles from any settlement and traveled to Hawleyville to have grain
ground into meal at the Boulware Mill.
Apparently Mr. Ross was not fond of people,
because the story is told that when there were six families located around him in 1858,
Mr. Ross decided it was getting too populated for him.
It was then that he moved to Kansas and it was there that he was massacred
by Indians while on a hunting expedition. Mr.
Ross’s brother James built the first schoolhouse in this area in 1851 at a cost of
$80.
Some of the Ross’ neighbors in the
northeastern settlement were families by the names of Findley, Thomas Means, Baker, Hiram
Phillips, and J.L. Patterson.
Southeast of Villisca a settlement was also
formed, later to be known as the Baker Cut community.
It was here that the families of Isaac Poston, A.J. Baker, Daniel Ross, A.H.
Means, J. Tice, and G.H. Thayer lived, according to cemetery records.
At this time the closest post office was at
Savannah, Missouri, and an established route from Maryville, Missouri, to Nodaway, Iowa,
was carried on horseback one trip per week.
The city of Villisca was only a promise on
paper before the coming of the railroad. It
was platted in February 1858, on a piece of land owned by George West and filed for record
May 20, 1859, by a David M. Smith. A log cabin
owned by West, and a little frame house built by a man named Scott were the only houses in
the town. In 1859, these houses were occupied
by the Anderson Moore and Aaron Penwell families.
There was a small frame store building
north of the square operated by Thomas Moore. This
was the first store in Villisca and in it Mr. Moore kept a small supply of items necessary
for the needs of settlers and which they were financially able to purchase. These buildings were all that were here, except for
the bright red stakes which marked the corners of lots.
These happened to be red because someone mistook the instructions saying to
mark the lots with “nicely pointed” stakes, to say “nicely painted”
stakes, and thus pained them a bright red color.
In the fall of 1861 a steam sawmill was
brought over land from Chariton, Iowa, and located in the southern part of town. This brought about the appearance of board fences,
frame houses, out buildings, and barns. Cottonwood,
elm, and linden timber were used and many of the oldest frame houses were built of lumber
from this mill. Then when the railroad came,
pine lumber replaced native lumber and the old mill disappeared.
In the fall of 1866, the first real
schoolhouse was built in Villisca. It stood on
a little knoll just east of the High School site and was surrounded by hazel brush and
sumac. Tommy Spargur was the first teacher in
Villisca.
In the spring of 1867, the surveyors for
the railroad came through the county, locating the line and setting the stakes. This brought on a surge of immigration and every
few weeks some new building was erected or a new business was started.
Villisca was incorporated in 1868 and by
the fall of 1869 was a lively town with trains passing through the town. The click of the telegraph was no longer a
curiosity.
A town government was organized in 1869,
with Morgan S. Thurman as the first mayor. Mayors
to 1906 were Thurman, John Buckingham, C.P. Ingman, B. Burrows, Peter R. Bates, C.W.
Waterman, P.R. Bates, F.P. Greenlee, P.R. Bates, A.M. Walters, C.S. Jackson, P.R. Bates,
E.C. Gibbs, C.J. Wet, M.M. Stoddard, C.E. Gibbs, F.P. Greenlee, J.M. Howland, E.C. Gibbs,
and J.S. Jackson.
Villisca became a second-class city in
March 1892, and at that time the population reached 2,000.
By 1905, the population had reached 2,225, and in the mid 1920’s,
climbed to the peak population of 2500.
In 1872, the schools were organized under
the grade system with C.S. George as superintendent. That
year the first brick schoolhouse was constructed. This
building stood until 1901, when the Lincoln Building was erected at a cost of $16,000.
The first fire department, known as
Excelsoir Fire Company, was organized November 18, 1876, by C.M. Stoddard. The first officers were John W. Allen, Chief; J.W.
Luca, Foreman; J.B. Cowgill, 1st Ass’t Foreman; C.K. Kennedy, 2nd
Ass’t Foreman; D.B. Prescott, Secretary; W.S. Alger, Treasurer. The first firehouse was located on the corner of Third
Avenue and 8th Street.
The first bank was started in 1871 by W.S.
Alger and Company, private bankers. This was
succeeded by First National Bank, which occupied a beautiful brick building and had
deposits of a quarter of a million dollars in 1906. This
bank was located at the corner of Third Avenue and Third Streets. At this time Mr. Alger was the bank’s
president and B.F. Fast was the cashier.
In 1876, W.W. Sweet organized a private
bank which was succeeded about 1906 by the Valley National Bank, with Amos P. Wet as its
president and F.F. Jones as the cashier. Evidently,
from the pictured bank book, the name of the bank could have been The Farmers Bank before
it was renamed Valley National.
The first minute book of recorded council
meetings has disappeared, so the first available minutes were of a council meeting held
October 1, 1879, with Mayor P.R. Bates presiding. J.A.
Ravencroft was recorder pro-tem and councilmen present were Hull, Woodward, Seal, Shepard,
and Sweet was absent.
A bill was presented at this meeting for
$50 to W. Sell for three months payment as city marshal.
Another warrant was ordered drawn for payment for use of lot for engine and
calaboose in town of Villisca. I am sure that
you all know that the calaboose was the town jail.
Early council meetings consisted mostly of
petitions for sidewalks, and payment for sidewalk construction. At an early meeting, the cost of sidewalk
construction was 31 cents per 100 feet.
The first record of an election in the
incorporated town was March 1, 1880, when 237 ballots were cast for Mayor.
On May 8, 1880, a meeting was called for
the purpose of acting on a petition for sale of beer and wine, and provision of some kind
of fire protection. The liquor license was
granted and a committee was appointed to investigate building of cisterns for the
additional fire fighting measures requested.
By this time Villisca had a find band and
free concerts were given in the park. On
September 1, 1880, the bandstand in the park was painted at a cost of $14, and a new pump
was ordered for the west side of the square.
On July 2, 1881, an article of agreement
was made between C.B.&Q. Railroad, and the town of Villisca for an under-crossing on Third
Avenue.
The first plat for the Villisca cemetery
was surveyed incorrectly, so the second was accepted May 23, 1881, a motion was made for
procuring a suitable huck for the fire company’s ladders and buckets.
A Board of Health was organized January 2,
1882, and Dr. F. Cooper was appointed health officer.
In December of the same year, ordinances were written preventing the running
of livestock within the town and requiring trimming of all trees with branches extending
over sidewalks, up eight feet from the ground. Property
owners were also compelled to remove snow from sidewalks according to ordinance.
In March 1883, the town marshal was
instructed to compel removing of a windmill on west side of the square, within ten days,
and in April, a called meeting was for the purpose of vacating part of North Depot Street
for the depot grounds.
About twenty citizens gathered at the
council meeting on May 15, 1884, asking the council to appropriate a portion of the
highway tax for the building of a highway leading south from town, to be known as the Platter
Road. It was agreed that 25% would be
appropriated for this purpose. This road is
believed to have been the road behind Mash Motel, which connected south with the old bayou
road.
First mention of a water system in the town
was made in council proceedings of July 2, 1884, when a committee was appointed on the
matter. On September 29, 1884, a special
election was held for the purpose of issuing bonds in the amount $8,000, which was 31% of
the assessed property valuation, and payable in ten years from date of issuance, for the
funding of the town water works.
On October 3, 1884, a favorable motion was
made to purchase a fire engine for the town and in December 1884, Excelsoir Fire Company
asked the council to build a 16’ x 20’ addition to their fire house for the
purpose of holding meetings and for use of the council for its meetings.
In March of the same year, the western part
of the town was annexed. This was due to the
fact that the railroad did not use all of the land they had purchased, making this land
now available to the town. This will again be
mentioned in more detail later.
In the spring of 1885, Councilman Stoddard
reported that a water works system, consisting of a steam pumping engine, a pump house,
located at the river, and 5,050 ft. of 6’ water main to be laid on Third Avenue, and
a 16’ x 30’ tank at the top of the hill, could be attained at a cost of $8,000. This plan was approved and contract awarded to Wind
Engine and Pump Company, to be completed on or before January 1, 1886.
In April of that year, a levy of 2 mills on
the dollar of taxable property was made for road purposes.
On May 4, 1887, a motion was made to build a bridge at the north end of Fifth
Avenue. That bridge was located about half way
up the cemetery lane, but was removed a number of years ago.
On August 23, 1887, there appeared a
petition to vacate and annul an alley running east and west between Lots 270-274 and
275-279, with the petitioners being the Independent School District and the trustees of
the Advent Christian Church and several others. This
was to make way for the building of the High School.
The first High School was built in 1888 at
a cost of $10,000. It had five teachers and a
superintendent who supervised both buildings and 130 pupils.
It was fully accredited. The Lincoln
Building had ten teachers, not counting the music teacher who served both buildings, and
an enrollment of 425 pupils.
The first street lights were purchased
December 5, 1888, by the city and the first lamplighter was F.P. Tyler. Mr. Tyler was serving at that time as the town
marshal, and it was the duty of the marshal to see that the lamps were lighted each
evening.
The City Hall was erected in 1900. Soon after, there were thirteen lodges and two
public improvement associations. One of these
was the Villisca Improvement Association whose object was to beautify and improve the city
in general, and the cemetery in particular. It
boasted 125 members and principally by giving entertainments was able to raise large sums
of money for the betterment of the city. Most
of these civic functions were held in the Opera House.
Besides the concerts in the park in the
summer, there was boating and swimming in Tyler’s Park, which in winter also provided
ice-skating. Tyler’s Park was a pleasant
spot for picnics and relaxing. This was
located west of the present swimming pool.
By 1905, the net valuation of real estate
was $900,000. Personal property was valued at
$500,000.
In 1906, Villisca had a good system of
electricity and one of the best waterworks to be found anywhere. The water came from a soft water spring and well
and was abundant, pure, and tasteless. The
system was valued at $35,000 with 8 wells, and a new pumping plant was being installed.
Sidewalks were excellent by now but there
were no paved streets at this time. The
streets in the residential area were laid out in a French Boulevard System, with wide
parking spaces on either side and a 45 ft. roadway in the middle.
The town consisted of three wards,
politically. The city officers, besides Mayor
and six councilmen, were a city clerk, treasurer, assessor, marshal, street commissioner,
health officer, and fire chief. Council
meetings were held weekly. | Next |
History of
Villisca Index | History Menu |
