HISTORICIAL SITES
and
INFORMATION OF INTEREST

A. Passmore Service Station : Built and operated by the Passmores for many years until it burned in 1952.

B. South half of Dr. Lewis’ lot: Bob Ehle Livery Stable formerly located here.

C. Lot west of Davis Barber Shop: House of Claus Aft located here at one time followed by Mrs. Henry Wendt who was a seamstress prior to 1903. Also the home and office of Dr. Cecil Johnson from 1903 to 1905. Also the site of the Herman Steffen real estate office. Later the building was sold to Henry Shryer, Sr. and Henry Shryer, Jr. operated a tavern and pool hall here followed by Frack and Huchendorf. The Nick McClery for Moline operated a pool hall and soft drink parlor in one part of the building and George Sickmon had a barber shop in the other part. The building burned in 1933.

D. Hardware Store Annex: Claus and John Boldt opened a plumbing shop here in 1876 and also handled paints, oil and building material. John Boldt sold out and Claus operated until 1907. Then his son, Hugo, took over until 1912. The building was then traded for land in Dakota. Dr. R. O. Byerum had his veterinary office in this building followed by Dr. Ascuity and by Dr. I. W. Moranville who came to Durant in 1920. Dr. Moranville occupied this building until 1943 when he moved to the Luethye building. Gus Stark purchased the building and Orville Garris opened a barber shop in 1922 and operated until 1929 when Herman Lamp purchased the building and it has since been used as storage by the Durant Hardware Store. At one time Lulu Luethye had a beauty shop on the second floor of the building. L. C. Luethye also began his plumbing and heating business in this location, later moving to his present site.

E. Lot west of Luethye site: The Kickapoo Indian Medicine Show was held here and they sold their medicine which was supposed to cure every known ailment. They went into the timber south of town and gathered their herbs for sassaparilla, cough syrup, salve, etc. During the 1880’s they made their appearance every September for five or six years.

F. North side of alley north of Makoben Tavern: In 1874 Wm. Bierkamp opened a wagon shop here and operated until 1913 when Frank Joens took possession. Mr. Joens operated until 1933, doing wagon work and handled pumps, windmills and tanks.

G. Hugo Boldt Plumbing Shop: Mr. Boldt moved from the Quality Store location in 1927 and built a plumbing and heating shop back of his residence which he operated until retiring in 1943. the building isnow used as a warehouse by L. C. Luethye.

H. Site of H. F. Bierkamp home: John Horst at one time opened a wagon shop at this site which was later removed.

I. Durant Motor Co. Building: Otis Ellis built an oil station on this site in 1932 and an adjoining lunch room in 1933. he operated both until 1939 when A. F. Schukar bought it. In 1942 the lunch room was enlarged and in 1949 it became Ovesen Motors. In 1951 Vincent Buchmeier took over and Lawrence Cole became the owner in 1953, having the Ford agency until 1954.

J. Old Creamery Building: Operated by Henry Puck and Chris Sorgenfrey for many years. Then the White Sulphur Springs Co. followed. Roy Schiele purchased the building in 1908 and operated a bottling works until 1937 when the business was sold to Baumann and Petersen. This building also housed the Nodurft Home Plumbing and Heating Company as well as the Herb Hebbeln Plumbing and Heating Company until they moved to their present location.

K. Lot back of Standard Bulk Plant: The house originally located here was occupied by John McCarthy in 1865. He was section foreman of the C. R. I. & P. Railroad Company. Peter Fritson was the next foreman followed by Ed Beck, Chris Boller and Pearl Jump, who is the present foreman.

L. Legion Auxiliary Park: Located just east of the Standard Station. On this site Andrew Banks operated a coal business in 1883. His son, William Banks, was a contractor until 1944. During World War II the American Legion Auxiliary erected an Honor Roll Board here honoring World War II Veterans. This site is now used by the Henderson Motor Co. as a used car lot.

M. Schacht Warehouse Site: Henry Hartz, Sr. erected a small building on this site for his daughter, Mary, who operated a millinery shop for several years. Then Hartwig Diedrich, Sr. bought it and had a barber shop and tailor shop. Later the building was moved to the present site of the McKillip’s Quality Store but was later removed. The Burmeister Flats was owned by Chris Burmeister who operated a mustard factory for a number of years. John Petersen had a bakery later and John Feldhahn peddled baked goods through the surrounding county. Miss Beuthien then had baked goods sent out from Davenport and she was the first to sell ice cream in Durant. In 1898 the Schmitt family consisting of a father and three sons, moved I and operated a bakery here.

N. Wm. Meese Residence: In 1877 Brauch Bros. bought the building from Mr. Hayford and opened a hardware store and operated until 1881 when they built the present Gritton building. Henry Mees purchased this building in 1881 and opened a shoe shop, making and repairing shoes. Later his son, William, operated a shoe repair shop until his death. On the west side of the building, Mrs. Meese operated a millinery shop for a number of years.

O. Building east of Meese property: Built by Dr. Wm. Haller who practiced for many years followed by Dr. Black who sold to Dr. Wormhout. In 1919 Dr. B. J. Lewis opened his dentist office here and practiced in this building until 1938 when he moved to his present location.

P. Matheny Apartment Site: This was built as a hotel in 1856. Henry Kohl operated a hotel here followed by John toll, Julius Hartz, Mrs. Emma Sibbers and Amelia Hass, John Briebel and Lowell Morron. The building was then purchased by Fred Denkmann and used it as an apartment building. It was sold in 1949 to Wilbur Matheny who remodeled the building into several apartments.

Q. Building west of Telephone Office: Dr. C. Pingrey operated a general store here and also was postmaster. He opened a lumber yard across the street from this location.

R. Rogers Home Site: Henry Meese was a shoemaker here in 1878. Later it became the office of the Durant Star for a few years. Later the office of John Wiebner who was one of the first mason contractors in Durant. this property was recently purchased by the Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed Corn Company. The house will be removed and the lot used for storage facilities.

S. Dwelling west of Midway Station: This home was built prior to 1871 as Mr. Charley Lautz came to Durant in that year and purchased this dwelling. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lautz, the younges being Miss Lena Lautz who still lives in this house where she was born.

T. Contractors prominent in Durant’s history: Diedrich, Hamann, Henry Staak, Henry Hartz Sr., Frank Voss, Chris Voss, Johannes Voss, Wm. Banks and John Schacht & Son.

U. Rural Mail Carriers: Nick Lamaack form February 1, 1902 to March, 1906. He delivered with horse and buggy. Ferd Carstens form March 1906 to March, 1946. Mr. Carstens served as mail carrier for forty years and it was while he was still delivering mail the change was made from horse and buggy to a modern means of transportation. Cecil W. Langmann was appointed rural mail carrier in 1946 and is still serving.

V. Postmasters of Durant:

John Hansen	August 12, 1852
Isaac Gilbert	February 13, 1857
Nathan Dudley	April 14, 1857
Erastus B. Bills	October 1, 1857
Benjamin Weaver	May 4, 1861
Orlando Cone	October 4, 1861
Henry Loomis	July 15, 1862
Darius Pingrey	April 28, 1873
Joseph Weaver	December 4, 1885
H. J. Brauch	June 8, 1887
Marcus Bohstedt	December 17, 1897
Ernest Jockheck	March 25, 1914
Otto W. Bierkamp	December 4, 1922
Cecil W. Langmann	March 1, 1934
Raymond Meinert	April 1, 1946

W. Some of the former Mayors of Durant: Allen Nesbitt, Dr. Schumacher, Wm. Bierkamp, E. F. Jockheck, Ed Denkmann, Rudolph Meyer, Henry Bierkamp, George Roehlk, Dr. B. J. Lewis, Elmer Langmann and Gus Jost.

X. Real Estate Brokers: Herman Steffen, Wm. Bierkamp, Henry Bierkamp, John H. Cook and Harry H. Horn.

Y. Station Agents: H. S. Downs, B. W. Brown, Julius Shryer, Sr., Fred Lanfeldt, Newton Stinger, Chas. Lautz, Jim Kerlin, Blair Hull and Gus Jost from 1932 to the present time.

Z. Older persons living in Durant: Mrs. Anna E. Schiele is the oldest person still living in Durant. She observed her ninetieth birthday on February 16, 1954. The oldest person living in Durant who was born here is Mrs. Alvena Trede who is eighty years of age. The building on the west corner of Block Eight now occupied by Mrs. Trede as her residence was built in 1878. Mrs. Trede has lived in Durant for seventy-one years.

A Note on Sports: Still vivid in the memory of the baseball fans of the county is the game played between Durant and the Iowa City “Bugs” in the summer of 1909 at Iowa City. The game was started at two thirty in the afternoon to enable the Durant team to catch their train for home; however, the game had good prospects of being called on account of darkness, when, in the first of the nineteenth inning, with two men on, Griffith missed a fly ball, and Swords of Durant trotted home from third thus ending the best and longest baseball game of the season with a 1 to 0 victory for Durant. The line-up for Durant was Stone, Otis Ellis, Leverish, Einefeldt, Sword, Engman, Rinsland, Lamp and Fickne.

Notable also in the sports history of Durant is the fact that a former local boy, Lester Stoefen, son of Hugo Stoefen, became National Tennis Champion.

The foregoing information contained in “History and Location of Durant Business Establishments and Professions” and “Historical Sites and Information of Interest” was gathered and compiled by Mrs. Alvena Trede, Mrs. Arthur F. Schiele and Mr. and Mrs. Harlan J. Cook.