Ackley’s homes and progress reflect a thriving prairie town
The article sketches Ackley Iowa’s growth from hardy pioneer homes to stylish modern residences, praising schools, fire dept, and public spirit. It contrasts past log cabins with present gothic and Renaissance style houses, notes vigilant fire protection, and recounts postmaster history and local boosters amid surrounding productive farmland. It also recounts Hardin City’s rise and decline, and a regional agricultural society plan with stock and fair grounds nearby.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Wichita
Kansas
Ackley
Taois Central
Iowa
Early Ackley agriculture club history cited
The sketch recalls 1860s Ackley growth with wood cutting for fuel, a two story school area, Pardee’s dwelling and a German Evangelical parsonage, plus forty families housed by 1866. It notes the Union Agricultural Society formed in 1868 by Parriott Schriber Buron Pardee Severance Carton and others to improve farming, horticulture, stock raising, and industrial value.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ackley
Dr. Kelso
Hardin
Franklin
Butler
Grundy
A. T. Reeve
Maysville
Franklin County
Ruby Parriott
Aplington
Kelso
John A. Carton
J. Mendall
Island
Ilinois
Francis
Pardee
Union Agricultural Society
Hardin County
R. BR. Parriott
J. J. Schriber
M. Buron
Erastus Pardee
Armetus Severance
J. A. Carton
Granville Dennis
Werst
William Francis
L. D. Treacy
J. Seaton Kelso
Distant Franklin County Stores and Dilapidated Buildings
The edge of Downe's grove in Franklin County shows two single story stores with residences nearby. A row of three shanty saloons stands near a town area in Ackley, with a schoolhouse and several vacant dilapidated buildings a short distance west. In spring, references to the Dubuque & Sioux City Railway Co appear.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Downe’s Grove
Franklin County
Jeasle
Isaac Benson
Ackley
Dubuque
Buildings Removed From Site to El Dora or Farms
Other points and most of the buildings were torn down and moved to El Dora or to farms, indicating a clearance or relocation effort affecting local structures and land use.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
el Dora
H M W Heetland a Reliable Ackley Implement Dealer
H M W Heetland has run an agricultural implement business in Ackley for sixteen years. Previously partner in Wessels & Heetland, he now operates alone with showrooms at Main and State streets and two large warehouses in Illinois Central yards. He sells McCormick binders and mowers, Sandwitch, Bradyley and Moline plows, Avery cultivators, Deere & Mauser discs, Duplex windmills, and other farm equipment. also handles wagons, buggies, seeders, and transfer services for McCormick Harvesting. He owns retail buildings and two city residences.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
A. H. Heetland
Ackley
John Wessels
Wessels & Heetland
Self
Ilinois
McCormick
Sandwitch. Manufacturing Co’s
David Bradyley Manufacturing Co
Moline Plow Co’s
Avery
Deere & Mauser Co’s
Bettendorf
Mable Clark
Racine
Sealong
Hoyo
Heetland
McCormick Harvesting Machine Co
Also Mentioned on This Page
Prairies
Towa
Reat Egay
Peorp
Ackley Postmannsters
Minet Gallop
Pierce
A. Severance
Joseph C. Knowles
Andy Johnson
Julia Harman
General Grant
E. P. Ripley
Grover and Clover
EJ. Higgins
I. M. Wilson
Wiggins
Uncle Sam
A. W. Jameson
Pattee
Jameson
August Newman
Hhis “Hight
McKinley
D. Breuning
Oftiera
Plander
Chie
Frank Seidl
Foreman Engine Company
W. J. Bryan
G. A. Graves
Fontaine P. C
Wm. Knoowly
Hardin City
Eldora
Feld
T. T. Roosevelt
John Rath
van V. Roosevelt
Frank Martin
H. MW. Heetland
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!