Page 23
Two Pictures
The Lincoln Highway

     A taken for granted gem in Clarence is the Lincoln Highway. Many residents travel the road everyday without realizing its history or importance to America’s travel industry.

     With the invention of the automobile, the need came for a better system of roads across the United States. Most roads around 1912 were still bumpy dirt surfaces in dry conditions and a muddy mess in wet weather leading from settlement to settlement. In 1912, Carl Fisher, creator of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, dreamed of super highway that would stretch from coast to coast. His plan, originally called the Coast to Coast Rock Highway, called for graveled roads at a cost of ten million dollars. Major funding for the project came from Frank Sieberling, president of Goodyear Tires and Henry Joy, president of Packard Motor Company. Henry Ford, president of Ford Motor Company did not support the project as he felt the public would never learn to fund good roads if private industry did it for them.

     On July 1, 1913, the Lincoln Highway Association was formed to fund and plan for the transcontinental highway. Henry Joy was elected the first president and was credited with the idea of naming the grand highway after Abraham Lincoln. Weeks of research were spent to find the shortest practical route of named local and state roads. The decided route, announced on September 14, 1913, started at Broadway and 42nd Street on Times Square in New York City and passed through the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California ending at the Pacific Ocean at Lincoln Park in San Francisco, a distance of 3389 miles. The highway was marked with the official Lincoln Highway Markers painted in red, white and blue stripes on barns, trees, rocks, telephone poles, and fence posts. Clarence was one of the fortunate towns to have the highway pass directly through the middle of town.

     With the completion and marking of the route, the Lincoln Highway Association turned its attention to a new goal in 1914 of educating the country for the need of better roads made of “concrete.” “Seedling miles” were poured in the countryside to demonstrate the superiority of concrete over dirt. The first seedling mile was 10 feet wide and poured west of DeKalb, Illinois in October, 1914. The nearest seedling mile to Clarence is just west of Mt. Vernon and was poured in 1918. Clarence was paved in the late summer and early fall of 1927. The old Lincoln Highway came from Lowden and veered south of what is now Highway 30 and entered Clarence from the south on present day 7th Avenue. The original pavement still exists today from the south entrance of Clarence on 7th Avenue, north to the stop sign at Highway 30 or Lombard. Articles printed from the 1927 editions of the Clarence Sun give an account of the pouring of concrete in Clarence.

     Page 24
2 Pictures: On the bottom: Lloyd Hasselbusch, President of the Commercial Club, Clarence Mayor, Henry Dircks, and Russel Rhoads, Cedar County, highway maintenance foreman officiate at the formal ribbon cutting ceremony of new Highway 30 at noon, August 30, 1956.

     In 1925 the American Associations of State Highway Officials started planning for a numbered highway system to replace the unorganized and confusing system of named highways. The Lincoln Highway thus became known as Highway 30 as it is today. New numbered signs were erected and the old trail markers were removed or faded. The Lincoln Highway Association disbanded in late 1927. However, one last major activity was the erection of concrete markers as a memorial to Abraham Lincoln. Gail Hoag, the last paid representative of LHS created the markers with the help of his friends in the cement industry. Some 3,000 markers were cast each with a small directional arrow and a small bronze bust of Lincoln. Around his profile were the words “This highway dedicated to Abraham Lincoln.” On September 1, 1928 at 1:00 p.m., Boy Scouts from across America placed the markers approximately one mile apart along the route to keep the highway in the minds of Americans across the nation. One of these markers, while not in its original location was recovered from the farm of Alan Weets near Mechanicsville in 2005 and placed in its present location in the Memorial Park in downtown Clarence by a group of Clarence citizens.

     Over the years the original route of the Lincoln Highway has changed to bypass towns and make it a straighter road to speed up travel. This was the case in the summers of 1955 and 1956 as Highway 30 was regraded between Clarence and Wheatland. The new route bypassed the center of Lowden and Wheatland and found Highway 30 entering Clarence from the east on Lombard street and no longer made the turn south at the corner of 7th Avenue, the site of several accidents. The official ribbon cutting ceremony took place August 30, 1956. However, Clarence remains unique in that it is one of only two towns in Iowa where the highway still travels directly through the middle of town. Clarence has captivated this uniqueness by naming its annual celebration the “Lincoln Highway Festival.”

Page 25
2 Pictures

D. S. Webb & Company, P.C.
510 Lombard Street

     D. S. Webb & Company, P. C. was established in 2007 when Duane Webb purchased the accounting and tax service business of Claney and Corbett, LTD. Dean Claney started the business in the early seventies, renting office space from Hasenbank Feed Service and hiring Kathryn Miller as secretary and bookkeeper. He forged a strong reputation by providing a personalized quality service for his clients. Karen Tenley was added to his staff in January, 1979 and the office relocated in 1992 to the current location at 510 Lombard.

     The company expanded in January, 1984 when Dean and Mike Corbett formed the partnership Claney & Corbett. Mike had spent several years working with Dean nights and weekends during the income tax seasons, helping him to build a strong client base. Kathryn retired in 1994 and her daughter, Diane Koth, was hired to take over her responsibilities. When Dean decided he was ready to reduce his working hours in May of 1999, Mike became the sole owner, and Claney and Corbett, LTD was formed.

     Ledger sheets, pencils, calculators and typewriters were the required tools for an accountant. Tax return forms were completed in pencil before being typed and photocopied. However, today computers and other electronic tools are a necessity.

     Claney and Corbett took pride in caring for their clients and their individual needs. Today, D. S. Webb & Company P.C. continues this tradition of providing quality service with a personal touch to the community and surrounding area with offices located in both Clarence and Tipton.

Page 26
Logo

Gade Motor Co.
100 Ames Street

     Brian Gade started the present day Gade Motor Co. that is situated at 100 Ames Street, in 1985. Brian purchased the building from the City of Clarence after cashing in the last of his savings bonds for the down payment. At the time, Brian was working at Aamco Transmission in Cedar Rapids as a transmission builder. He did not like the drive every day and set out to follow in his Dad’s footsteps and start a business of his own.

     Brian started out by cutting back to working only Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Cedar Rapids and being open for business Tuesday and Thursday. Business soon picked up for Brian and he was able to quit his job in Cedar Rapids and concentrate on building up his new business. In 1990, Brian purchased the building adjacent to him from DeWayne Ahrends and Gade Motorsports was born. This building would house some of the machines used in Brian’s expanding business into the high performance engine building or what is known today at GRE Race Engines. At that time he also expanded his racing program.

     Fast forward to 2009 and you’ll find Brian busy rebuilding transmissions and high performance racing engines. Along with his wife, Cork, and employees, Dave Berry, Kevin Laing and Robin Atkins, the shop stays busy throughout the year.

St. John’s Repair Shop
513 Lombard Street

     My name is Larry D. “Joe” St. John and I have been connected with Clarence for about 50 years. I first worked at the Clarence Ford Garage from 1960 to 1976 as a truck mechanic. In 1976 I left for Alaska, and found a job as a mechanic in Anchorage. In 1992 my boss retired and I bought his equipment and wrecker truck and returned to Clarence.

     I opened my shop that fall at 513 Lombard St. and have been here going on 17 years. I am proud to be a part of this community and being a part of the Lincoln Highway Festival committee. This year is the Clarence Sesquicentennial and as a committee member, I hope everyone has a good time and lasting memories of the celebration.

Page 27
Picture: Members of Hunwardsen Construction’s crew are left to right: Wilbert Muhs, Owen Niermeyer, Mark Hunwardsen, owner Bob Hunwardsen and his father Herman Hunwardsen

Hunwardsen Construction
211 Ames Street

     Shortly after Herman Hunwardsen’s marriage to Leona Horn in 1935, he began his carpenter career with George Sheldon. He was learning the trade well when George Ruphrecht, from Ruprecht Lumber, encouraged him to form his own business in 1940. Early in business, he built several homes on the south end of 6th avenue in Clarence, one of them for George, Ruth and Gar Ruprecht. Herman always gave credit to George for helping him with his start in business.

     Herman’s son, Bob, joined his father in 1954 learning the trade. Together they worked for many people in the area doing general carpentry and new home construction. One big challenge was the large barn built for the Roger’s family north of Clarence. The Clarence Ready-Mix plant was quite a project too. The barn stills stands but the cement plant is history.

     In 1975, Bob took over his father’s business. He had a great instructor and was ready to try it. Like his Dad, Bob continued to take on all kinds of work. He was always glad to have a crew of three or four to help with remodeling, repair or new construction. He is glad to have had the opportunity in constructing West Wind Villa, Clarence Co-op office, Clarence Telephone office addition, plus new homes for area customers. In 1987, Bob’s son, Mark joined the carpenter crew. And in 2000, Mark took over the business; thus beginning the third generation of Hunwardsen carpenters.

     Since 2000 Mark and his crew have been very busy mainly building new homes and working for area farmers. He has been involved in the building of the Little Home Day Care Center in Lowden, 56 new homes in the area and numerous remodels, additions and other projects. His crew is Jason Conrad, John Ibsen, Craig Pearson and summer help from high school students.

     Herman Hunwardsen also has 3 other grandsons involved in the construction trade. Roger is a construction engineer in the Twin Cities, Chad has a roofing business in Ames and Tyler has a framing business in Ames.

Page 28
Picture

Leeper Electric, Plumbing and Heating
308 Lombard Street

     Wesley Leeper began this business in 1993 and it was originally called Leeper Electric. He worked for people nights and weekends and kept his full-time job in Tipton. It quickly became bigger than what could be handled part-time. Wes then worked with Ellis “Sonny” Stonerook and started doing plumbing and heating as well as electrical.. When Sonny retired, Wes took over the business and changed the name to Leeper Electric, Plumbing, and Heating.

     In 2008, Wes was recognized by the Better Business Bureau for 15 years in business. He currently has three full time employees. Matt, Wes, Jason and Jerry thank you for your business. Great customers helped make the business what it is today.

Leeper Construction

     Owned and operated by Jim Leeper, Leeper Construction was established in March 1989. Jim contracted for a couple years with AJJ Hasenbank Construction working with Arlo Hasenbank, Jack Williams and Jerry Hasenbank. He then went on to working with various other men to create a successful business in our community.

     His son Welby worked part time with the business July 1990 to May 1992 and became a full time employee in June of 1992.

     In 2004 Jim received recognition for 15 years of business from State of Iowa Better Business Bureau. Jim retired in 2006, selling the business to Welby and it is now known as WJ Leeper Construction, LTD.

     Welby presently has three full times employees as the family observes a 20 year anniversary. We express our thanks to everyone who helped make this small business possible and for future years.

Page 29
2 Pictures

Bo-Jack’s Tap
602 Lombard Street

     This land was part of the Iowa Land Company’s holdings, conveyed originally to M. Cummings, then to John Peterson. In 1869 it became the property of James Snyder, who, that year erected the three story building on the site it now stands. He deeded the third story to the Masonic Lodge, which was their quarters until 1978. It is the oldest brick building in Clarence. The Masonic Lodge occupied the third story for over 100 years. James K. Snyder occupied the street floor as a general store, until he sold to Vroom and Brown in 1887. Vroom and Brown then sold to Reinking and Wm. Gauger in 1897. They in turn sold to E. H. West, and when he moved his business a half block west in 1916, the building was remodeled into a restaurant, operated by Frank Tague. In September of 1917, he sold to Clark and Pearl Marvin. They sold to George Miller in 1920, who then sold to Clyde and Pearl Perkins in 1829. In 1941 Pearl Perkins owned the building. Kate and Arnie Kahl operated the restaurant from 1950 to sometime in the 1970’s.

    In May of 1978, the third floor was sold to Ron Shebetka, and he sold the entire structure and business. Jo Campagna opened Joe’s Bar & Grill in October of 1979. The upper two floors became living space. In recent years, the building was Wendell’s Bar & Grill, and presently it is Bo-Jack’s II Tap.

Barkley Sales & Service
102 5th Avenue and Ames Street

     We started in 2003 and moved into the current building we purchased in 2004 from Todd Pruess. We sell and service all agricultural and lawn care equipment. Some would say we work on everything but airplanes and helicopters. We love all of the local support and plan on being here for many years to come.

Page 30
Picture

Bradley L. Norton, Attorney at Law, PLC
515 Lombard Street

     Bradley L. Norton graduated from Drake University Law School in December of 1981. He was admitted to the Iowa Bar in January of 1982 and began practicing law with Wm. B. Norton and Roger D. Freese in Lowden, Iowa. The practice consists primarily of Family Law, Estates and Estate Planning, Real Estate, Litigation and Taxation.

     In 1967 the law firm of Norton & Freese purchased the building and remodeled it into law offices. In 1986, Roger Freese purchased the building from Norton & Freese and opened his own practice. Mr. Freese passed away in 2003. Norton & Norton Law firm in Lowden, Iowa purchased the building and Mr. Freese’s business in 2003. In 2004, Bradley L. Norton purchased the building and business from Norton & Norton, Attorneys at Law. In 2009, Mr. Norton purchased the restaurant next door, formerly known as Le-Hi’s Café and the B & B Café and expanded his office to include the west half of the restaurant. Bradley is in a sole practice with two legal assistants, Shirley Mostaert of Clarence and Becky Cox of Lowden.

     A brief history of the law office building shows that in the early 1900’s the building was a grocery store known as Decker & Woods. It then became a feed store through the 1940’s and 50’s operated by Clarence Bixler and later by Leroy Kemmann.

Page 31
Drawing

Kinion Auto Sales and Service
730 Lombard Street

     Dale and I, Judy got married August 21, 1971. We bought a gas station/repair service in Monmouth, IA. We lived above the shop in apartment which was handy because Dale and I put in long hours doing motor work, brakes and exhaust, oil change etc. We applied and received our used car dealers license in 1972. We called ourselves Kinion Auto Sales. Dale and I went to car auctions and he would look for trucks that needed motor work. Dale always had a good eye for such vehicles. He would buy just one or two, fix them, sell them and repeat the process. Our children grew up helping in the shop and going to countless auto auctions. Today, Adam goes to countless auto auctions, his dad, Dale and I had to pick up vehicles that were purchased. Adam like his dad puts in long hours and he does other things besides buying, such as selling, mechanical work on vehicles and running the wrecker. Adam will sometimes buy more vehicles in one day that Dale and I did in months or more!!!

     We went from Monmouth, IA to the country north of Monmouth to live and continue our business, we stayed there until a better location in Wyoming, IA came up for sale. We bought the property there in Wyoming. We stayed there from June 1991 to April 2006. On April 14, 2006 we had a fire that destroyed our office and much of the equipment and tools. The fire was a hardship, but Adam was very determined, he heard about a building up for sale in Clarence, he contacted owner Pat Thein and made a deal. Before moving, we did a lot of painting and cleaning, etc. (The building had been empty for quite some time) We are proud of the shop!! We are enjoying the town of Clarence and meeting its people.

     We have a 24 hour wrecker service, no job too small or too big, we have two light duty, one medium duty and one semi wrecker. We have four full time employees.

Page 32
Picture

Wabash Transformer
101 Industrial Park Drive

     Wabash was established in Tipton as a subsidiary of Wabash Magnetics of Indiana in 1973. The company prospered and was sold several times over the course of years. The last sale was in 1995 to Mr. and Mrs. Mahboob Khan. They were originally from the Chicago, IL area, but moved to Mt. Vernon after the purchase of Wabash. Mr. Kahn decided to move the business the same year of purchase and located Wabash in Clarence, IA in 1996, having built a manufacturing location on the edge of town.

     Wabash has again been sold to Power Volt. Power Volt is a transformer manufacturer located in Addison, IL. Power Volt is owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Brij Sharma. Mr. Sharma purchased Wabash from Mr. Khan in the fall of 2007.

     Wabash transformer has been manufacturing power transformers, industrial control transformers, class 2 transformers and custom transformers for over 30 years. Our products have been used in industrial applications for domestic and international commercial products. During this time we are proud to have made transformers unmatched in quality and functionality. Our wide base of customers in various market segments leads me to believe in the solid potential for Wabash Transformer’s products in your marketing environment.

     We have one plant in Mexico along with our main plant in USA. This enables us to do most of the labor intensive work in Mexico, finish products in USA, with 100% testing for quality assurance. This business model has helped us to keep our cost low and pass on this advantage to our customers with lower prices. This Model makes it possible for our customers to take advantage of best opportunities that are: Low labor costs and best “Made in USA” quality, with fast turn around time from PO received to delivery to customer. You can also visit our website at WW.wabashtransformer.com for a complete list of our products.

Page 33
Picture: This was taken on Jan. 22, 1955 on Cutover Day to the first dial system in Clarence. Rural lines with 20 to 25 on a line were cut to 10 on a line. Operators were Jesse Zager, Elisabeth Fisher, Ethel Shriver and Pearl Kembel.

Clarence Telephone Company – Cedar Communications LLC
608 Lombard Street

     Clarence Telephone records indicate that the Telephone Company was organized as a privately owned firm at the beginning of the 20th century. Frank Riggs is credited as being one of the early organizers. The 1903 phone directory, shows Hosea Ballou as President of the company. One of the first subscribers to the new Clarence Telephone service was August Kammeyer with the fee for one month’s telephone service of $.35.

     About 1920, the old company was bought out by Hans J. Klatt; from whose estate it was acquired by the present company. For a short time after WWII, Klatt’s son, Henry, operated the company. The first office of the Telephone Company was on the second floor of the Clarence Clothing Company. Later a separate building was built to house the switching center and there it has remained until the recent conversion to dial service.

     On August 9, 1951, a number of people from the Clarence community got together to discuss their telephone problems. A representative of the Iowa Independent Telephone Association met with the group to give a talk and answer questions about telephone service. At this meeting it was decided to hire an engineer to make a survey to determine the cost of building new lines and installing a new dial switchboard. On October 27, 1951, a meeting was held and a board of directors was elected. President was Walter Geadelmann, Vice-President, Hermann Schwien, Secretary-Treasurer Wayne Saunders with E.E. Meyer, Oscar Dethmann, Henry Von Muenster and Richard Hulse as board members. The company sold $78,000 worth of stock in the community to raise sufficient capital to construct the new dial system.

     In March of 1952, Ray McDaniel was hired as the manager and lineman. Dorothy Claney was hired as bookkeeper in January 1953. The Clarence Telephone Company became the first small town in eastern Iowa to have dial service in March 1955. Our first building was constructed in 1968 at 608 Lombard with additional office space added in 1977.

     In the winter of 1982-83 CATV was built and maintained by the company for the city, having 17 channels to offer on cable service.

     Ray McDaniel retired in 1989 and was replaced by Brett Baldwin. Marilyn Hansen began working in the office in 1991.

     A fiber optic network was built for the purpose of equal access for the customers in the exchange. Once again the Clarence Telephone company will be first in the county, this time with the fiber optic capability. The company also purchased a franchise to provide Direct Broadcast Satellite service to the residents of Cedar County. In January of 1997 the company upgraded the cable television plant to the capability of providing up to eighty-two channels. Brett Baldwin resigned and Curtis Eldred was hired as Manager of the Company. He continues as manager, with Dan Sander and Chad Fall as technicians and Dawn Frey, Deb Bixler and Marilyn Hansen in the office. The Board of Directors are President, Ken Mostaert; Vice-President, Paul Chapman, Jr.; Secretary-Treasurer, Denny Hulse and board members Lynn Ahrendsen, Jerry Hasenbank, Gary Deerberg and Steve Maurer.

Page 34
Logo and Picture

Graphix Plus
620 Lombard Street

     Graphix Plus Signs – Brian and Michelle Wendel, Owners. We have been in the sign business for 13 years. We had originally started our business in 1993 as an Offroad Motorcycle Sales and Parts business, when our son was racing motocross. A few years later, we then added the sign business and slowly faded out the motorcycle parts business, as our son was no longer able to race, due to it being hard on his knees.

     As a sign business, we make signs for vehicles, business signs, vehicle stripping, magnets, labels, boat lettering, photo decals, photo t-shirts, etched mirrors-glass, engraved rocks and more. Our newest thing is wall quotes that you can put directly on the walls of your home. These are seen at home parties; some people have like “Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much”. In addition to this, we sell the stickers and quotes on E-bay and also take consignments selling items for others on E-bay.

     One year ago, we also started a Karaoke and DJ business called Karaoke Tyme and Party Tyme DJ. We travel all over doing this on weekends for weddings, birthday parties, retirement parties, or just at local bars.

     Our building was originally a tack shop and later became a Maid-Rite and game room. At one time it was also a Laundromat and later a liquor store.

Page 35
Picture: Clarence H. Bixler’s Samson truck…late 1920’s
Clarence Bixler owned one of the first trucks in Clarence. In this Picture taken in front of his home on 7th Ave., the truck is loaded with tubs of butter from the creamery across the street. Clarence would haul it to the railroad depot to be shipped out to large cities.

Bixler Bros. Truck Line
1629 140th Street

     Clarence Bixler owned one of the first delivery trucks in Clarence, Iowa. It was the beginning of a truck line that has been around for 56 years. Clarence Bixler had a small feed business, and he found it useful to have a truck to haul the goods to and from his customers. This would start a Bixler tradition.

     After Don “Whitey” Bixler returned from WWII, he started his own trucking business. After a few years he partnered with Frahm Brothers. This partnership lasted until 1953. In that same year, Whitey and his younger brother, Jim, founded Bixler Bros. Truck Line.

     At first the truck line hauled mostly livestock, cattle, hogs and an occasional load of sheep. There must have been a lot of loads of hogs over the years because Bixler Bros. got the nickname of “Piggyville”. Many of the loads were taken to the Chicago Stock Yards, on the south side of Chicago. If you were very lucky, as some of the Bixler kids were, you got to go on a trip to Chicago.

     Notable trips included: hauling Kosher meat, taking livestock to the east coast, (Whitey and Jim vowed never to haul livestock that far again), watermelon and onions (they seemed to get sampled), and steel out to Denver, and finally on the return trip with several cases of Coors beer that somehow managed to get on the trailer.

     There have been many employees at Bixler Bros., some have included Whitey and Jim’s sons. By making rounds of the buildings, the beginning drivers would learn to drive a car before taking driver’s education.

     Bixler Bros. continues business. Since 1953 many things have changed. They no longer haul livestock, steel, watermelons or onions----or Coors Beer. Donald Duck is no longer the base with the CB; the cell phone now takes its place. Several things have remained the same. They proudly haul for the agricultural community in Eastern Iowa, and the second generation of Bixlers now own and operate “Piggyville”.

Page 36
Picture

Shirts ‘N’ Stuff
Bart and Lisa Miller, Owners
519 Lombard Street

     In 1991 Del Gade bought a trailer at an auction that was full of heat transfers for caps and t-shirts. Some interest was expressed by area businesses about getting some hats done. Del decided he would give it a try. Hasenbank Feed made the first order. They ordered hats for their anniversary. These hats were done at his house. Several other projects were done after the Hasenbank order but space at home was limited, so in 1922 Del bought the old clothing store from Greta Havel and her mother Alberta Thein.

     This is also the year their son Austin was born. After his birth, Lisa didn’t have job so she started helping her dad at the shop. Del went to Kansas City to learn the ins and outs of screen printing but found out that it was going to take a lot of money to start this venture. Instead of buying new equipment, Del built most of it to get started. The business was called Shirts N’ Stuff. After a few years of just screen printing, Lisa and Del decided to purchase an embroidery machine. This purchase was made in 1996.

     In July of 2001 Bart was not having much fun at his job of 13 years so he decided to quit and start working at Shirt-N-Stuff. While working together we have purchased several new pieces of equipment to make screen printing easier and to make the end product better. We purchased the building and contents in 2006.

     Our building was erected in 1865 by H. P. Grim. He operated a meat market for 23 years, changing to a restaurant in 1890. H. W. Lohman put in some clothing stock in 1900, followed by Abe Donasalski. In 1913 Schroeder and Yetter increased the clothing stock and hired Emil A. Spille as manager. In 1918 Harry Decker took over the store, operating it until 1948 when he sold it to Henry Thies. In 1988 he sold to Greta Havel who continued to sell men’s clothing until Del Gade purchased the building in 1992.

Page 37
2 Pictures

Kelly Video Productions
37 Oxford Junction Road

     In 1985, King Kelly was asked by a friend to video tape his daughter’s wedding on a rented video camera. Previously King had used his 8mm movie camera to capture special memories on film, but the movies had no sound and film developing was increasing in cost. So he decided to purchase his own VHS video camera for family use. Soon, that hobby grew into a business. Over the last twenty five years, he has taped many weddings in Eastern Iowa. He has also taped hours of sports and fine arts events for Clarence-Lowden and later, the North Cedar School Districts. He has created special memory videos of still photos for anniversaries and other occasions. He has also developed videos for businesses. Since 1985, the video industry’s format has changed from VHS to digital. Memories are now saved on DVD disks rather than bulky VHS tapes.

     King also incorporated his love of flying with 35mm still photography. He enjoys taking aerial phots and sending them out to local residents annually.

     Technology is changing rapidly. Who knows how we will be saving our memories fifty years from now, but King hopes that some of the memories he has captured will still be around to give history to the next generations.

Clarence Car Wash
Harley Conrad, owner. 102 Ames Street

     The Clarence Car Wash was Built in 1971 for Paul Chapman, Jr. by Hasenbank Construction. It has two self service bays and one automatic bay. It was sold to Harley Conrad in 1974. An automatic wash was added in 2006.

Page 38
Picture

Wynkoop Equipment Company
607 First Avenue

     Wynkoop Equipment Company was started in 1988 by Todd Wynkoop as a parttime endeavor to supplement his income as a mechanic. Raised in Wyoming, Iowa he has worked in Clarence since 1974 and has lived here since 1977. His first machine was an Oliver crawler that would nearly fit in the back of a pickup truck, acquired from a very generous William Bachman. It couldn’t do much work, but it was sure cute. After a year or two he bought an old D5 Caterpillar in part ownership with a farmer, Randall Sander. It was big enough to do some real work and also started a tradition of fixing up old worn out machines. In 1993, Todd bought a used Case excavator and a year later he was busy enough to quit his job as a mechanic. In 1997, his brother, Timm, came to join the business. In the year since, the business has grown and is able to afford brand new machines—no longer buying old and fixing up.

     Wynkoop Equipment Company specializes in conservation work, site development, basements and demolition and removal. Some jobs in the area include demolition and removal of the old wooden feed mill and elevator behind the River Valley office, removal of the old DFX Station across from Casey’s General Store and work on the infrastructure of 10th and 11th Street residential development.

     Todd credits his success to the skill and dedication of his brother, Timm, his employees and the great people of Clarence and the surrounding communities. He and his wife Mary, have three daughters, twins, Stacy and Lacy and Lindsey. The family lives at 102 Piatt Street in the house that George Utley built in 1967.

Page 39
Picture

Community State Bank
309 Lombard Street

     Community State Bank was founded in Clarence, Iowa in 1894 and was located at 601 Lombard Street (now occupied by Niermeyer & Maurer Insurance Agency). H. D. Coe served as Chairman of the Board and Fred Hecht as Secretary. D. Elijah was Bank President, earning $300 annually. D. L. Diehl was the Bank’s cashier earning $60 per month. The bank operated out of this location until 1996. At that time a new building was constructed at 309 Lombard Street using local contractors and with the majority of building materials purchased from the Clarence Cooperative.

     The original name of the Bank was the Clarence Savings Bank. During the depression the bank acquired assets from the First National Bank which was located in the new Russell Dircks Law Office building. In 1984 the bank purchased Union Trust and Savings Bank, with offices in Stanwood and Olin and was chartered under the current name. At that time J. Robert Bunn was the President. The bank has always been a leader in innovation and was the first bank in the area to have an ATM machine, back in the 70’s. In 1991 the bank was sold to Fidelity Company with James R. Kennedy serving as the holding company’s President & CEO. The bank continued to grow and expand and in 1991 a new bank office was established in Tipton working first out of a temporary location until the new building was built where it stands today at 509 Lynn Street. In 1999 the bank expanded further into Cedar County to West Branch and built a new facility on the west end of town directly on Main Street to serve that community as well. With offices in Clarence, Stanwood, Tipton and West Branch the bank is able to serve all of Cedar and the surrounding counties.

     Total assets today are $86,544,260 with 29 employees. Eric Newton serves as the bank’s President and CEO. Serving on the Board of Directors are: Tom Lucas, Chairman, Jim Kennedy, Jr., Eric Newton, Pat Hasenbank, Bill Schwitzer, Cathy Boesenberg and Glenn Hay. The bank offers personal and commercial lending, investment services, various checking and saving products including IRA’s. Drive-up banking and ATM services are also available.

Page 40

Niermeyer-Maurer Insurance
603 Lombard Street

     C. E. (Gene) Morehead was selling insurance in Clarence in about 1915. In about 1927 Raymond Doermann was in his early 20’s when his father was upset about an insurance settlement he had received, so he sent Ray to insurance school. Apparently Ray decided it was interesting because he started selling insurance when he finished the schooling. About three years later Raymond Kreinbring joined him in the business and Kreinbring-Doermann Insurance was formed.

     John Curran was selling insurance in 1934 for White Pigeon, serving Dayton Township. He lived in the residence at 93 Lombard Street now occupied by Gene and Kathryn Koth. In 1941 Arnold Meier was selling insurance for White Pigeon in Fairfield Township and the same year Kenneth Morehead replaced his father C. E. (Gene) in the Morehead Agency. In the last 1930’s or earlier, Walter Ruther was also selling insurance in Clarence. No information was available as to who took over his business.

     William Schroeder took over as a White Pigeon agent for Arnold Meier in June of 1956, and possibly for John Curran at the same time. In about 1967 Stan Maurer bought into the Morehead Insurance Agency and it became the Morehead-Maurer Agency

     Lawrence Ruther took over in January 1970 as a White Pigeon agent from William Schroeder. He operated his office out of his home in the country on Rose Avenue for 12 years. In 1973 Steve Maurer joined his father in what was by then the Maurer Insurance Agency. Steve continued operating the business after his father’s retirement and passing in 1989.

     In the summer of 1981 Lawrence Ruther approached Robert Niermeyer about taking over his business. Robert obtained his license in the fall of 1981 and took over Lawrence’s business on January 1, 1982. He operated out of his home in the country for almost two years. In 1983 Raymond Doermann wanted to retire, so he approached Robert about taking over his agency as well. This took place on December 15, 1983. Robert had opened an office at 624 Lombard St. in the building that had seen many different uses over the years.

     When in 1984 Robert Bunn purchased the Union Trust and Savings Bank in Stanwood to combine with the Clarence Savings Bank, along with the bank he also acquired a small insurance agency. David Ziegler sold crop insurance for this agency through the bank. In late 1990 Robert Bunn contacted Robert Niermeyer about taking over the crop insurance business sold through the bank. This took place January 9, 1991.

     In December 1996, Michael Blake made a change from the auto repair business to the insurance business. He opened an office at 514 Lombard, which had previously housed the Clarence Medical Clinic. He started selling for Farmers Insurance and later added several other companies.

     Robert Niermeyer moved his insurance office to 603 Lombard St. in 1997. This business had been the east half of the Community State Bank building until they built their new building at 309 Lombard St.

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     In late 2004 Steve Maurer approached Robert Niemeyer about purchasing part of the Maurer Agency, Inc. Steve kept his sizable crop insurance business and moved this office across the street into the rear offices of the Niermeyer Insurance building. Robert took over the property and casualty insurance business under the name of Niermeyer-Maurer Insurance.

     Along with the insurance business, Niermeyer Insurance started providing a selection of greeting cards, dry cleaning services and a film-processing drop off point when the Hebdon Pharmacy closed in 1988. The film services became unavailable in 2008 due to volume decreasing because of the popularity of digital cameras. NOTE: History of the insurance business in Clarence was obtained with information from Frank Fisher, plus other sources with dates being approximated.

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2 Pictures

Frederick R. Drexler, D.D.S.
305 5th Avenue

     My father had Lawrence Ruther’s daughters as students in college, which led to an invitation to visit Clarence. I recall thinking that Clarence was an attractive town. I opened my office in Clarence July 1, 1975 with Henry Thies as my first patient. I am quoted, as saying a medical and dental history is important to providing proper dental care and I still feel this is necessary. The Clarence Commercial Club hosted an open house on July 13, 1975, which was attended by 200 people.

     The fundamentals of dentistry have remained the same through my 34 years of practice, however materials and equipment used have changed greatly. I intend to continue to work until retirement age.

     My office building was constructed in Boone, Iowa. The halves were moved in and placed on the lot with some finishing remaining.

Stockyard Auto
702 Stockyard Road

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Casey’s Store #1447
502 Lombard

     The Clarence, Iowa store was originally a franchised Casey’s store operated by Lowdon, Inc. a corporation owned by brothers Lowell and Don Heiliger. On December 9, 1980 Lowdon, Inc. leased the premises at 502 Lombard St. in Clarence from Hawkeye Oil Company of Cedar Rapids. The property had previously been the site of an old two-bay gas station for a number of years, probably going back to the 1950’s and earlier.

     The property was released to construction on March 3, 1981 and Consolidated Building Systems of Des Moines, Iowa served as General Contractor. The excavator was Fred Iben, Inc. The concrete subcontractor was Garling Construction. The electrician was Kamp Service. The plumber was Noel Mast. The floor subcontractor was Peterman & Hames. The celling subcontractor was Iowa Acoustical. The refrigeration subcontractor was Cassaday Borgen Technology.

     On May 22, 1981 Casey’s opened Store #1447 in Clarence. The “A2” style store measured 30’ deep and 50’ wide with one restroom behind the sales counter and no kitchen. Outside the building two dispensers with two hoses each pumped gasoline from one steel 6,000 gallon and one steel 10,000 gallon underground storage tank.

     On July 5, 1985 a 30’ by 11’ kitchen addition was added to the building. With kitchen equipment in place, the store started selling Homemade Donuts to Go and homemade Pizza to Go.

     The store was operated by Lowdon, Inc. as a franchised Casey’s General Store until January 1988 when Casey’s General Stores, Inc. acquired the corporate stock of Lowdon, Inc. and merged that company into Casey’s. Thus, Casey’s has been the Lessee of the property from Hawkeye Oil Company and has owned and operated the store facility as a company owned Casey’s General Store since that time. The land is still owned by Hawkeye Oil Company.

     On February 12, 1993 the kitchen was remodeled and reversed. On July 26, 1993 the pumps were replaced with two 4-hose dispensers. On September 30, 2003 Pay-at-the-Pump was installed so customers could fuel their vehicles using a credit card at the dispenser.

     As of December 3, 2008 Casey’s is proud to operate 418 stores in Iowa. Five of these stores are in Cedar County, Iowa; Clarence, Durant, Mechanicsville, Tipton and West Branch. The store has had three managers over the years: Donna Cromer, Cheryl Thiele (deceased) and presently, Jade Derynck. The store employs ten people.

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Veterinary Medicine in Clarence
315 1st Avenue

     Dr. S. G. Paul started the veterinary business in Clarence in 1934. At that time the work consisted of treating draft horses, cattle, and swine. During the 1930’s there were cases of sleeping sickness in horses and the eradication of cattle TB and cattle Brucellosis were accomplished. Antibiotics were introduced to Veterinary Medicine during the 1940’s along with more sophisticated vaccines which really helped improve the practice of Veterinary Medicine.

     During the 1960’s the eradication of hog cholera was accomplished. Many people thought it couldn’t be done because it was to be done by stopping vaccinating hogs against the hog cholera virus. It turned out that the disease was actually spread by healthy appearing vaccinated hogs shedding the virus.

     In 1972 Dr. D. C. Stresemann purchased the business. By this time the draft horses had nearly disappeared. The work was mainly with cattle and swine with emphasis on preventing disease. The number of companion pets and pleasure horses had started to increase at this time.

     During the 1980’s due to hard times in agriculture, the number of cattle feeder operations started to cut way down never to return. The dairies stopped the picking up canned milk along with a government buy out program also encouraged many dairy farmers to stop producing milk.

     During the 1990’s an effort to eradicate Pseudorabies from swineherds was mandated by the government. It took about 5 years of very concentrated testing of the swineherds. During this time more confinement units started to appear causing swine to be raised by fewer people in larger numbers. More and better antibiotics were introduced for the beef and swine industry plus better tests for drug residues to assure good quality food products for the consumer. Also the introduction of genetically marked vaccines made it possible to tell if a positive scrology test was from vaccination or a naturally infected disease.

     From 1995 to 2009 more and more of the work consisted of companion animal practice. The introduction of the computer made possible better and faster diagnosis of diseases and allows small practices to utilize the facilities of universities to confirm diagnosis.

     The year 2009 is the 75th anniversary of Veterinary Medicine in Clarence, Iowa.

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Chapman Funeral Homes
311 Fifth Avenue

     In February of 1947 Paul & LaVonne Chapman moved to Clarence and purchased the Beck Funeral Home. From 1947 to 1970 the Chapman’s were also in the Ambulance business, transporting people to area hospitals for a modest fee of $25. After 1970 the job was taken over by the Clarence Ambulance Assn.

     In 1955 Chapman’s established a funeral home in Wheatland. Gene Dittmer lived in the funeral home and worked in this location until his death in 1999.

     Paul Chapman, Jr., better known as “Chip”, attended the Wisconsin Institute of Mortuary Science and received his Iowa license in 1966. He has been owner and manager of the funeral homes since 1977. Paul and LaVonne retired that year. William Dittmer, Gene’s son, joined the firm October 1, 1975 and takes care of the Wheatland property. Dan Chapman graduated from Worsham School of Mortuary Science in Chicago and in 1988 became our third generation of funeral directors.

     Our most interesting death call in the last 60 years happened on July 26, 1951. We were called to come to Stanwood; a man had either been thrown or fallen off a train. While getting ready for preparation of the body his t-shirt was removed and it felt strange. With further examination we found seventy-five $100 bills sewn in the shirt. We called Judge Hamill in Tipton and through the judge and county attorney, we opened an estate in Cedar County. On the next day we had a call from the FBI that they were coming for an inquest; the finding was foul play aboard the train. It was found that Mr. Chin Joe Kee was on his back to China and had been thrown from the train. We shipped his body to New York by railway express on August 4th. Those were ten anxious days.

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Post Office
310 Sixth Avenue

     The Centennial Book indicates that Thomas Robinson, an 1844 settler, was the first postmaster. The first established post office in the community (the Centennial Book shows no date) was served by the carrier on the route, which led from Iowa City to Dubuque. Mail was carried by horseback in saddlebags; deliveries were weekly or biweekly at the most.

     With the coming of the railroad, the post office was served by dropped or grabbed mail, or if the train stopped. It was “someone’s” job to take the mail to the office and then make the return trip. The post office could be located in any number of offices or out in the country, but more recently in a facility next to the park downtown or on the corner. Of course, we only think of it where it is now, and vaguely remember it down on the corner of Lombard.

     Bob Miller contributed the following information: In old papers, he found that Rural Free Delivery (RFD) started in Clarence on Monday, December 2, 1901. There were Pages of requirements and stipulations. The salary was $500 per annum including horse hire.

     When Bob was appointed postmaster in November of 1967, there were two rural routes. One route went north of town and the other south. The combined miles totaled 89. There was one full-time clerk with 40 hours a week, and a part-time clerk with 10 hours.

     The Post Office Department was the official name until 1971, when Congress renamed it the United States Postal Service. It was no longer financed by the government, and therefore operating on its own revenue.

     Eventually, to operate more efficiently, the two routes were combined into one, with the rural carrier from Lowden taking about 10 of the miles. About the same time, part-time clerk ours were abolished, along with 20 hours from the full-time clerk.

     In the early 1990’s the postal service went to computers. Bob went along with that until 1999 when it got too complicated, so he decided to retire.

     When Pat Chamberlain became postmaster, application and qualifications filled the position. This is now true of all postal positions.

     There are computers in all offices, but Clarence has a form of “bar-code reader.” All retail products are sold by bar code. These codes record all daily activity and inventory.

     There is one rural carrier who covers 106 miles in town and country and part of Stanwood. The lobby contains 305 rented post office boxes. A new addition in 2001 was the parcel lockers in the lobby, making it more convenient for customers to pick up parcels anytime. The lobby window is open 6 ½ hours each weekday and 1 ½ hours on Saturday. The back room force is a 44-hour job. All mail coming in the morning and going out in the evening is transferred by truck out of the Cedar Rapids Post Office.

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Early form of mail notification

List of letters remaining uncalled for in the P.O. at Clarence, Iowa, for the month ending June 30, 1903.

Blake, Miss Carrie M.
Brink, Albert
Brink, A. W. (2)
Menear, D.C.
Robinson, Illinois When calling for the above please say “Advertised.” CHAS. SMITH, P.M.

List of letters remaining uncalled for in the P.O. at Clarence, Iowa, for the week ending March 13, 1909:

Day, Elmer (2)
Larkin, S. J. (2)
When calling for the above please say “Advertised.” CHAS SMITH, P.M.

POSTMASTERS:

James DeWolf	1866-1867
J. P. Ferguson	1869-1885
August Woerder	1885-1889
LaGrange Tiffany	1889-1893
Alex Grant	1893-1897
Charles Smith	1897-1913
F. M. McCarty	1913-1921
Miss Lou Brink	1921-1934
Vern Freeman	1934-1965
Robert M. Miller	1965-1999
Patricia Chamberlain	1999-

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Kirk Wenndt Realty
115 Lombard St.

     Kirk Wenndt Realty was founded in Clarence in the fall of 2004. Kirk Wenndt purchased the building at 115 Lombard Street that was built in the early 1930’s and served as Sinclair and Phillips 66 Gas Stations. The property served as Oster’s Drive-In Restaurant for many years until it closed. Kirk still has people stop in and “kid” with him if they could get a tenderloin or ice cream cone, which were some of the popular items at Oster’s. Kirk also remembers coming here as a child before it was a restaurant to get a 10 cent bottle of pop.

     The purchase of the building and land required extensive remodeling as it had been sitting vacant for several years and had many different prior uses. Kirk, along with family and friends, performed a majority of the renovations. Local contractors were utilized for items requiring professional installation.

     Kirk and his family moved to Clarence in 2000 to be closer to his parents, Clifford and JoAnn Wenndt. Cliff had been diagnosed with cancer. He passed away in 2001. Kirk’s maternal grandparents, Raymond and Marjorie Steege were longtime Clarence residents, where Raymond operated Ray’s plumbing and Heating on the west edge of town.

     Kirk Wenndt serves as the broker/owner of Kirk Wenndt Realty and currently has two additional relators working with him. The company primarily serves all of Cedar, eastern Linn and southern Jones counties. The business specializes in residential, commercial, land and agricultural real estate sales and service.

     Kirk Wenndt Realty will be celebrating it’s 5th year anniversary this year in conjunction with Clarence’s Sesquicentennial.

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The Hair Company
302 Lombard Street

     Gary and Helen Skinner, owners of the Hair Company, opened their beauty/barber shop on July 5, 2001 at 302 Lombard St., Clarence. They transformed part of the garage into a beauty/barber shop.

     After graduating from Cedar Rapids Barber College, Gary took his first barbering job in Davenport, Iowa. Helen took her cosmetology training from Paris Academy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and then took her first job in Davenport, Iowa after graduation. Since then they have owned and operated shops in Davenport, Mechanicsville, Massillon, Maquoketa and Clarence. The Hair Company is known for its one stop family hair care. We strive to have hours that are convenient for our working clients as well as our retired clients.

Bookkeeping and Tax Services
501 Ninth Avenue

     Bookkeeping and Tax Services was started in 2003 by Sue Elijah. It is located in her home office at 501 Ninth Ave. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Mount Mercy College and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from St. Ambrose University. Bookkeeping and Tax Services provides bookkeeping, payroll, and income tax services to individual and business clients.

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Silhouettes, A Women’s Fitness Center
604 Lombard Street

     Wm. Carson operated a hardware store in this location from 1870-1908. Then for five years, 1908 to 1913, Kemp and Fry operated a garage. Later in 1914 the frame building was torn down and F. W. Phelps and W. A. Engelking erected the present brick structure for a hardware store. Later in 1923, Guy Swartzel established a grocery store, which was later rented by Howard Claney from 1932 to 1942, after he had earlier been employed by that store.

     By 1953 Kermit and Louise Roelf owned the building, which was a pool hall. In 1959 Wayne Robinson traded a 40-acre farm for the building. It continued to be a pool hall from 1953 to 1965 under his ownership. Paul and LaVonne Chapman bought the building and in 1974 Paul Jr. and Karla Chapman became the owners. From 1965 to 1977, it was a Gift and Sundries Store.

     In 1977 Ron and Janet Hebdon bought the building and ran a Pharmacy until 1988 when Keith and Karen Dennis bought it to use as an office for their trucking firm, KKD Enterprises, Inc. Following the sale of the trucking enterprise, in 2002, Karen opened a Women’s Fitness Center, “Silhouettes”. She looks forward to helping the women of the community stay physically fit.

Clarence Family Practice
411 First Avenue

     Clarence Family Practice started in 1994, after George H. Utley, MD retired. Dr. Utley served Clarence and the surrounding area for over 30 years. The clinic was purchased by STL Health Resources, out of Cedar Rapids, and began seeing patients in September 1994.

     Hetty Hall, MD and Robyn Nebergall, PA-C were the first providers seeing patients at the clinic in downtown Clarence at 514 Lombard Street. Frank Micucci, PA-C came to Clarence in April 1995 and provided care until December, 1999.

     The practice moved into the new building, owned by the Clarence Nursing Home, at 411 First Avenue in December, 1995. David Askelson, PA-C started in January, 2000 and is the current provider. STL Health Resources became part of the Iowa Health System, the largest health system in the state of Iowa. Clarence Family Practice is also known as St. Luke’s Physicians and Clinics, linking the clinic to one of Iowa Health System’s affiliate hospitals.

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Picture: Shelling corn at Jack Ward’s in the early 1960’s.

Artistic Edge Salon
510 Lombard Street

     In 2004, Karla (Mrs. Kevin) Tenley opened her business on Lombard Street inside the building that houses Webb and Company. Capri in Cedar Rapids provided her training, followed by work in several salons. The time came when Karla wanted a shop of her own. The drive back and forth was tiring and took too much time away from her family. The name “Artistic Edge” was just picked out of the air.

     The second operator in the shop is Stephanie (Mrs. Jackson) Howell. She also received her training at Capri, but in Davenport. She has also worked in other salons.

     The shop offer perms, colors, highlights, hair cuts, manicures, pedicures, artificial nails, waxing and tanning.

Frahm Shelling and Hauling, Inc.
228 Oxford Junction Road

     After completing nearly seven years of service Norman Frahm got out of the Army late in 1944. In 1945, he purchased his first truck from the Ford dealer in Davenport.

     Around 1947 or ’48, Norman and Freeman Frahm and Don (Whitey) Bixler went together to buy a ’35 Doge semi with a 28’ trailer. This started “Frahm Bros. And Bixler Trucking.” They operated out of the blacksmith shop that Fred Frahm, their dad, built in 1923. The blacksmith shop was located north of highway 30, across from what is now Kinion Auto Sales. He later lost it when the banks closed in 1932. Norman bought the blacksmith shop back in the early 40’s.

     Frahm Bros. and Bixler only operated together a few years. They then separated into Frahm Bros. and eventually Bixler Bros. Later, Frahm Bros. went to Norman Frahm Trucking, doing shelling and hauling while Freeman Frahm ran cattle to the Chicago Stockyards.

     I, David Frahm, got out of the Navy in 1978. I bought part of the business with Norman Frahm in January 1979. This formed Frahm Shelling and Hauling, Inc. In 1979, we shelled over 300,000 bushel of corn. By 2001 we shelled only around 60,000 bushel. I still haul grain for River Valley.

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Janel’s Hair Studio
505 10th Avenue

     Janel’s Hair Studio is located at 505 10th Avenue and is owned and operated by Janel Wenndt. Janel’s Hair Studio was established in 1998 in Mechanicsville and was relocated to Clarence in 2000 when Janel and her husband, Kirk, had their home built there.

     Janel’s Hair Studio specializes in hair care for men, women and children. In addition to a wide range of hair services, Janel also performs manicures and pedicures.

     The business has grown and prospered throughout the years. In addition to many Clarence residents, clients from surrounding communities such as Cedar Rapids, Springville, and the Amana Colonies travel to Janel’s Hair Studio.

     Janet feels that working and residing in a small community has helped her grow both personally and professionally, which has made her business become very successful. As Janel stated, “It’s been nice to get to know my community through doing their hair!”

Kelly Tree Farm
191 Quincy Avenue

 &nb Established in 1985, the Kelly Tree Farm now encompasses two production farms, including a Christmas tree farm and the nursery business, which was added in 1990 on the more than hundred year old family farm. The Kelly Tree Farm is one of only two private reforestation nurseries in the state of Iowa. Kelly now receives inquiries and ships trees from coast to coast. He can provide windbreaks, yard trees, shrubs or shelter-belts and assist you with his knowledge and experience.

    He enjoys seeing the progress his plantings have made on customer’s properties and visiting with the customers about plantings impacting their personal environment. The three full time and four part time employees of Kelly Tree Farm stay busy with growing, and planting trees and shrubs and trimming the Christmas trees. Kelly looks forward to serving Clarence and the surrounding area with for many more years.

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Land O’Lakes Purina Feed
1655 140th Street

     What’s in a name? The Feed Mill on the east edge of Clarence has gone by many names since it was built in 1963. The 1.8 million tons of feed that have been manufactured at the facility since its inception have had many different brands and names. Companies such as FELCO, Cenex, Harvest States, Farmland Industries, Growmark, Purina and Land O’ Lakes have had their feed manufactured at this location. Many of these companies entered into the plant via mergers or other acquisitions. Much of whom we are today is due to a blending of a lot of quality individuals and quality feed programs. The feed mill location was selected due to the customer commitment that was found by our dealer members in the Clarence area. These customers are the foundation and fundamental to the success of Land O’ Lakes Purina Feed today. Currently today we ship feed to over 170 co-operative members and dealers and over 200 farmers via direct ship. The feed manufacturing is accomplished by ten employees in the mill and warehouse area and orders are taken by two customer service representatives. The plant is running around the clock five days a week all year long. The employees that work here are the second key to our success. The employees are extremely customer focused as well as driven to provide the highest quality product to the end user.

     The city of Clarence has changed in 150 years as has the Land O’Lakes Purina feed plant in its 46 years of business in this city. We look forward to the changes that lie ahead to work together to add to the success of this community.

Blake Insurance Agency
514 Lombard Street

     Michael Blake started Blake Insurance on December 1, 1996, in what was formerly the doctor’s office at 514 Lombard St. The building was purchased from Mercy Hospital for $10,000.

    He primarily writes for Farmers Insurance Group, but he also writes for Wheatland Mutual for Farms and Wellmark Blue Cross for Health. In the short 13 years he has been in business, he has gone from two page applications with carbon paper to paperless, and using the internet for almost all transactions. He is proud to serve our community and enjoys helping with insurance needs, as well as during times of trouble, such as car accidents, wind storms, home fires and all other claims, large and small.

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Picture: Jackie Sheldon with Selma Ruther

Clarence Chiropractic
507 Lombard Street

     In May of 2002, Dr. Ann Marie Campagna took over Clarence Chiropractic. She was not new to Clarence, as her parents, Joe and Mary Campagna had owned and operated another business several years before. She occasionally helped out at their tavern, known as Joe’s (On the corner of 6th Ave. and Lombard). She never dreamed at that time she would end up with one of the Chiropractic offices in Clarence, Iowa.

     After six years of renting, in May 2008 she had an opportunity to purchase the building that was originally the Clarence City Hall. This allowed her to rehab the building, putting her office in the front and a beauty shop in the middle office. If you look up the front of the building you will see the etched date, circa 1921. During the rehab of the building they found the location of the original staircase to the basement.

     She is excited to have Clarence Chiropractic located on Route 30 in Clarence and looks forward to a future serving the Clarence community and surrounding areas.

Fashion Flair
507 Lombard Street

     Jackie Wendt Sheldon started working at Fashion Flair Beauty Salon in 1979 to 1980 for the original owner, Marcia Irons (Meyers). It was located where the Telephone Company meeting room is now. When Marcia moved to Tipton and started barbering, Connie Hunwardsen Gottschalk bought the business and Jackie worked for her. When she decided to sell, Jackie bought and moved the salon to Jerry Hasenbank’s building, where Prime Design is now located.

     In 1997 she moved to 514 Lombard (Dr. Utley’s old office) and rented from Mike Blake. In December 2009 she moved to the current location at 507 Lombard and she is now renting from Ann Marie Campagna. She looks forward to continued success in her new location.

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Picture: River Valley Cooperative Agronomy Shop

River Valley Cooperative

     Originally known as the Clarence Cooperative Company, it was organized in 1919 to supply building materials, coal and feed to the community and area farmer members. Over the years there were various mergers and acquisitions that significantly enhanced their position in the area as the key supplier of feed, agronomy and petroleum products as well as the grain market for their member-owners. They have also been a key employer in the community and continue to be so today.

     In March of 2003 the company merged with River Valley Cooperative to continue to provide those same agricultural products and services to a larger geography and customer base. Today they serve the needs of 3000 class A and 490 class B member owners of 11 counties in Eastern Iowa and producer members is currently as 12. Today the cooperative has annual sales that will exceed $400 million and employs 235 full-time employees and over 120 part-time employees.

     River Valley Cooperative is the leader in supplying the agronomic needs of area producers and specializes in precision agriculture utilizing global positioning to provide various specific needs with large fields. River Valley Cooperative continues to be the main feed supplier for Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois through the 4 feed mills that they operate today. The Grain Division will handle in excess of 28 million bushels of grain annually.

     River Valley Cooperative currently has three locations in the Clarence Community. :The Clarence Main Office at 619 Lombard Street serves the grain business in Clarence and the surrounding communities, with Mark Dewell as the location manager. East of town is the Clarence Agronomy and Maintenance Location with Dean Gluesing as the manager. Also on the East side of town is the Clarence Car Care Center and Gas Station. River Valley Cooperative congratulates the Clarence Community on their Sesquicentennial and looks forward to being a key part of the community and area for years to come!

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Picture: The building on the northwest corner of main street owned by attorney Durwood Dircks was recently refinished on the outside. The sidewalks and ramps were also improved. Plans are being made for interior redecorating.

Dircks and Dircks Law Firm
523 Lombard Street or 202 Sixth Avenue

     A bank was established in this location by W.D.G. Cottrell in 1870. It became a National Bank and continued operation until it consolidated with the Clarence Savings Bank in 1930, with no loss to depositors. In 1935 the Post Office was moved to this location. In the basement of this building E. S. Dean once had a butcher shop. The Knights of Pythias occupied the upper level until it was disbanded. It was then used as a dentist office successively by Doctors Taylor, Brock, Hageman, Swanson, and J. B. Lane, who began his practice in Clarence in 1923. Late in the year of 1935 the Clarence Sun newspaper moved to the upper level from the building across the street.

     Durwood W. Dircks began the practice of law in Clarence in the fall of 1955 with Edwin C. Schluter. Sometime later Attorney Dircks moved his law practice into the rear addition to the north side. The Maurer Insurance Agency was located in the front section of the building until that office moved across the street and in 1985 the upper level was remodeled to accommodate a residential apartment. Durwood W. Dircks engaged in the practice of general law and income tax preparation and as the Attorney of Clarence until he passed away in 1999. His son, Russell A. Dircks joined the office in 1979 and acts as the current city attorney.

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Winfield Solutions, LLC., Agronomy Service Center
1665 140th Street

     Winfield Solutions, LLC., Agronomy Service Center is one of 60 Land O’Lakes, Inc. owned facilities in the United States. We are a distribution warehouse facility, traveling a 200-mile radius delivering AgriSolutions and vended crop protection products; Croplan Genetics Seed, and Origin brand plant nutrients to our customers.

     Located north of Land O’Lakes on the east side of Clarence, we have been in business for over 25 years. The Clarence location has received numerous awards as one of the top locations within the company.

     The current workforce consists of Dale Seligman, Jim Kruckenberg, Allen Wenndt, Bob Schroeder, Russell Deerberg, Mike Fletcher, Michael Thompson, Aaron Spickerman, Pamela Stout and Gwendy Phillips, location manager. Safety is a top priority for us, while providing customer service second to none.

     Our company goal is to offer proven high performing, branded proprietary products in combination with the expertise to help our customers win in the field today, while preparing for tomorrow.

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Prime Design Hair Tanning Salon
626 Lombard Street

     Prime Design was established in April 1997 and is owned and operated by Lori Dennis of Clarence. Prime Design is a full service family hair and tanning salon. It offers a wide variety of hair care products, tanning lotion and OPI nail polish. Prime Design has had 12 successful years of business thanks to its many loyal customers.

Motor Inn
626 Lombard Street

     At one time a frame building housed a small barn and blacksmith shop at what is now the southwest corner of 7th Avenue and Highway 30. Here the late Wm. Rummel kept “Frau” his race horse, which did not win any horse races. Dr. E. E. Rowser started his veterinary practice here. The last blacksmith to work there was Jerry Kroegaard who died in 1912. The framed building was torn down to make way for the present garage. It was erected in 1916 by Alfred Hoffner. He operated it for a few years. He continued to retain ownership of the building but sold his business to Rollie Robinson who sold to Millard & Leatherby, and they sold it to Perkins and Ziegler. The business was next sold to J. C. Dettman in 1926 as a car and machinery dealership. Mr. Dettman operated it until 1946 when he then sold his business to Howard Thein. Howard Thein and later his son Pat operated Thein Motor Company selling Dodge and Chrysler vehicles for several years out of this location until Pat moved east one block to build a new building for his business in 1975.

     Mrs. Alfred Hoffner then sold the building to Virgil Stockman, who sold it to Jerry Hasenbank in 1978. Jerry has had several renters to occupy the building. Delmar Gade did mechanic work, Jackie Sheldon operated a beauty shop, Pat Lambert sold and laid floor coverings, Linda Boots who also operated a carpet store and presently Lori Dennis d/b/a Prime Design now operates a beauty shop out of the northwest section of the building. Jerry Hasenbank occupies the remainder of the building for storage of his construction equipment and supplies.

Page 59
4 pictures:
Body Works Gym & Fitness Center, 100 Industrial Park Dr.
River Valley Petroleum Center, 902 Lombard Street
BYF Transportation, First Avenue
Clarence Mini Storage, First Avenue

Page 60

Main Street – Then and Now

Picture: The Presbyterian Church stood at the corner of 5th Ave and Lombard at the west end of the Clarence business district. The church disbanded in 1938. The building was last owned by H. D. Kemmann & Sons, who removed it and used the site as a used car lot.

Picture: The Municipal Building was erected on the site where the Presbyterian Church once stood. The building was built in 1969 and houses the Clarence Volunteer Fire Department as well as the city offices.

Picture: The oldest residence in Clarence once stood on the corner south of the Post Office. It was built for a bride by Lucian B. Gere, a pioneer Clarence businessman who gave the name of Clarence to the new village in honor of Clarence, N.Y. Material for the home was shipped from Buffalo, N.Y.

Picture: The Gere house was removed and replaced with apartment units by Arlo Hasenbank.

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Main Street – Then and Now

Picture: Stock’s Standard Station on the southeast corner of Lombard and Seventh Street

Picture: The Standard Station location is currently used by Kinion Auto Sales as a used car lot.

Picture: Elsner General Store at the corner of 6th and Lombard. Originally Hanna’s General Store, it was destroyed in the great fire of 1891. Hanna rebuilt and sold to Elsner. Geo. Miller later occupied the store. He sold to Orlo Baltisberger and Lawrence Kline. Todd Thein acquired the property and had the business razed.

Picture: A downtown park now provides a beautiful restful area where the former B & K store stood. Page 62

Main Street – Then and Now

Picture: Tacker Bakery Building (with white front) and Merritt’s Barber Shop (left)

Picture: Hasenbank’s Produce Building and Ruprecht’s Lumber Yard (left) with old elevator in the background

Picture: The produce building, the bakery, the lumber yard, and the barbershop have all been razed and the River Valley Cooperative Offices and parking lot have been built on those sites.

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Did you know?????

     Lombard Street was named after Lombard Street in London, a very busy business street comparable to Wall Street in New York City. Ball Street was named after Joseph Ball who owned the land were the railroad line was built. Smith Street was named after Charles Smith, a resident in the 1860’s that was a mortician and druggist. Piatt Street was named after Abner Piatt, a large landowner and supporter in the organization of Clarence in the early years. The origin of Ames Street is unknown.

    The street light located at on the south lawn of 410 5th Avenue is an original street light erected on Lombard in 1927 when Highway 30 was paved through Clarence. An advertisement in the paper read: “The Town is Yours, Come and Celebrate the Opening of the New White Way in Clarence. Help Commemorate the Improvements, Saturday, October 1st. The Paving and Boulevard Lights are Here At Last, Let’s Make Merry.”

    The house at 404 4th Avenue, presently owned by Bob and Phyllis Hunwardsen, was built using the lumber from the Clarence Railroad Depot when it was torn down in 1959. The bench sitting in front of their home is from the original depot.

    The bell in front of the Municipal Building came from the old fire station tower. Before Clarence had sirens this bell was rung to summon the volunteer firemen when a fire broke out. John Hunwardsen and Jack Williams lowered the bell by ropes from the tower with John constructing the metal framework in 1970 that supports the bell today.

    The street signs were erected in April of 1983. They were purchased by the Clarence Savings Bank in memory of Harry Decker, long time director of the bank.

    The Lincoln Highway marker in the main street park was secured by the Vision/Trees Forever Committee in the spring of 2004 from Alan Weets, a Mechanicsville farmer. Weets found the marker in 1976 when he purchased land across from the Casey’s store in Mechanicsville and was cleaning up the field to farm. There was an old mud hole full of rocks along with the marker complete with the Lincoln medallion and the familiar red, white and blue Lincoln Highway markings. Weets took the marker and laid it behind his tool shed until the spring of 2004. Pat Hasenbank, a friend of Weet’s daughter, discovered he was about to advertise the marker on e-Bay and notified the committee of its availability. The committee acted quickly and purchased the marker for $1,000. It was prominently placed along Highway 30 in downtown Clarence with a shatterproof protective case to preserve and protect the historical marker medallion in time for the Lincoln Highway Festival in July of 2004.

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Personal Memories and Notes