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THE EARLY HISTORY OF MECHANICSVILLE

1900-1972

     As a trade and agricultural center, Mechanicsville ranks as one of the most important of its size in the state. Platted in the 1860s, the town has grown from a few dozen souls, scattered together in a remote little village, to a pretentious and prosperous community that it is today, with a population of approximately 800.

     Mechanicsville is located on the C & NW Railway in Pioneer township, Cedar County, 14 miles northwest of Tipton, the county seat, 24 miles east of Cedar Rapids, and 57 miles west of Clinton.

     Mechanicsville has Catholic, Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches and an excellent public school. It also boasts very good banking facilities, an opera house, public hall and quite a few modern stores and shops. The press is represented by an excellent weekly paper, the Pioneer Press. That the town is an important trade center in this section is evidenced by the fact that large quantities of produce, grain and livestock are shipped from here to Eastern markets every year. Exceptionally fine corn is grown in this vicinity and it is said that in this territory, originated the phrase “Where the tall corn grows.”

     Although many different creeds constitute the population of Mechanicsville, you would have to look a long way to find a place where a better spirit of tolerance and unity sexists. Here the citizens all work together in a splendid way for the best interests of the community, and it is owing to this fact that Mechanicsville is the friendly, hospitable and prosperous town that it is. Visitors here are always assured a warm welcome and always leave with the same impression “a mighty fine little place.”

Four pictures showing Mechanicsville main street during different periods of time.

From 1910 “History of Cedar County”