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Timeline History of Mason City
| DATE |
EVENT |
NOTES |
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| Spring 1853 |
County surveyed by EVERETT & ANDERSON |
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Summer 1853
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Mason City planned by
John LONG,
George BRENTNER, Joseph HEWITT |
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| October 1853 |
McMILLIN & JENKINSON builds 1st cabin |
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| Winter 1853-4 |
JENKINSON resides during winter |
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1854
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1st Store in county opens
Dr. CARD, 1st doctor in Mason City |
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| 04 Sep 1854 |
Cerro Gordo settlers receive
title to their
respective properties |
Property titles include
Mason City |
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1855
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STACKHOUSE & BELT open 1st grocery store
James STEWART opens 1st photography studio
T. DRUMMOND & MILLER open
law office
PEABODY opens 1st blacksmith shop |
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| April 1855 |
1st township election |
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| July 1855 |
1st recorded plan filed to record |
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| 08 Oct 1855 |
Elisha RANDALL opens sawmill |
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| 09 Nov 1855 |
Mason City filed on county plan book |
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| 1856 |
Lizzie THOMPSON teaches 1st school,
a log schoolhouse. |
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| 1857 |
1st stone school built |
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| Sept. 1857 |
Mason City post office established |
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| 08 Mar 1857 |
Methodists, 1st religious group in Mason City |
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| April 1858 |
Mason City named county seat |
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NOTE:
In 1856 a group of Clear Lake residents requested the Iowa General Assembly to reconsider the original placement of
the county seat in Mason City and place it instead at "Livonia," which was on the east side of the present day city of
Clear Lake. A commission agreed and the move was made. Mason City residents called for a special county vote, it was
taken in April of 1858, and Mason City was once again declared the county seat.
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| 17 Jul 1858 |
1st Mason City newspaper |
named Cerro Gordo Press |
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| 06 Jul 1859 |
Osage Land Office closed |
No unclaimed land left in N. Central Iowa. |
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| 12 Aug 1862 |
Fort Sumter attacked |
American Civil War begins |
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12 Aug 1862
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Local enlistments begin for
Co. B, 32nd Reg. IA
Volunteer Infantry |
Enlistments include Cerro Gordo,
Hancock,
Winnebago, & Worth Counties
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1864
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Miss S. E. HARTSHORN
opens 1st millinary shop |
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09 Apr 1864
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Battle of Pleasant Hill,
Louisiana |
Company B with Mason City soldiers engaged
in the battle |
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1865
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George VERMILYA opens
1st lumberyard |
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12 May 1868
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stone Congregational Church
dedicated |
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1869
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W. H. LYTLE opens Cerro
Gordo County Bank |
located at 10 South Federal Avenue
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19 Oct 1869
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South Mason City planned
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to built up area around Milwaukee
Railroad |
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06 Nov 1869
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1st train arrives in
Mason City |
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NOTE: The arrival of the railroad
had tremendous impact on population levels; 1869 census of Mason Township (mostly Mason City residents) a population of 795; 1870 census population
1,784; 1874 population 1,183; 1880 population 2,510.
| 1870 |
Mason City incorporated |
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| 1870 |
PARKER'S Mill built |
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1871
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N.M. NELSON & H. BRICKSON
brickyard opened |
located in Lime Creek Township
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| 20 Sep 1871 |
1st fire Hook & Ladder |
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| 1872-74 |
Central School built |
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NOTE: From the top of Central School
local photographer H. P. KIRK took many stereo views of Mason City.
| April 1867 |
City Library Association formed |
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| 18 Jul 1878 |
1st telephone service |
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1878
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Long distance telephone service
to Algona. |
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1881
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Mason City rated city of
2nd class |
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Fall 1881
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Carrie LANE (Carrie CHAPMAN
CATT) comes to Mason City
to teach |
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1882
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Iowa Admendment prohibits sale &
consumption of alcohol |
Amendment later declared
illegal |
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| 1882 |
Garfield School built |
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| 1882 |
NELSON builds brickyard |
located in South Mason City |
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| 1883 |
Grant School built |
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| 1883 |
CLARK builds Electric Plant |
1st St. NW & Washington |
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1883
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PARKER'S Opera House
opened |
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1883
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Tondro Soap Factory begins
operations |
factory later burned down
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April 1883
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Leo CHAPMAN buys
Cerro Gordo Republican |
spouse of Carrie CHAPMAN
CATT |
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1884
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Civil War statue erected in
Central Park |
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06 Jun 1885
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Pumps & pipes purchased for
city water system |
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August 1886
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Street lights installed by Mason City
Electric Company |
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| 1888 |
St. Francis Academy opened |
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1890
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red brick High School built east
of Central School |
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| 1890 |
Washington School built |
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1892
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1st incorporation of Brick & Tile
industry |
DENISON named president
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1893
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Dr. MASON, 1st woman doctor
in Mason City |
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05 Dec 1893
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Ordinance for free public library
passed |
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22 Feb 1897
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Approval for brick paving of
Federal
Avenue from Willow
Creek to 2nd Street N |
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04 Jul 1897
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1st run of MCCL Railroad from
Mason City to Clear Lake |
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04 Jul 1899
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Jacob DECKER takes over
RICHARD'S Packing House |
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| 1900-01 |
New Court House built |
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1901
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Sophia & Dolly STORY opened
1st Hospital |
107 N. Pennsylvania
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| 1903 |
Memorial University built |
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NOTE: Memorial University operated until 1910. The building was later used as Roosvelt Elementary school; torn down in 1979.
1903
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I.O.O.F. Orphan's Home
dedicated |
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| 1904 |
Lincoln School built |
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| 10 Jan 1905 |
Carnegie Library dedicated |
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1906
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J. M. HEFFNER opens
The Bijou, 1st movie theatre |
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| 1907 |
new Post Office built |
located at 19 S. Delaware Ave. |
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| 1908 |
Northwestern States Portland
Cement begins operation |
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| 1908 |
STOCKMAN House built |
Frank Lloyd WRIGHT, architect |
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| 1909 |
Park Hospital built |
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| 1910 |
McKinley School built |
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1910
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City National Bank and
Park Inn Hotel completed |
Frank Lloyd WRIGHT, architect
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1910-15
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operation of Colby Car Company
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Buildings still in use by
the Associated Milk Producers, Inc. |
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1911
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Lehigh Cement begins
operations |
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| 1911 |
1st airplane flight in Mason City |
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1912
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Marion Mahony GRIFFIN
completes drawing of
Rock Crest - Rock Glen. |
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1913
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Commission form of city
government established |
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NOTE: Under the commission, Mason City got new
bridges, a sewage disposal plant, miles of paving, a modern fire department, and eventually, almost 2 million
dollors of debt.
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| 1913 |
Jackson School built |
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May 1913
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Floyd E. BARLOW flies from
Clear Lake to Mason City
and back. |
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1914-15
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KEELER consolidates
brick & tile plants |
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| 09 Dec 1915 |
Mercy Hospital opened
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1916
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Mason City rated a city of
1st class |
population 17,172
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1916
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Modern Brotherhood of America
office building erected |
(Brick & Tile Building)
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1916
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Mason City Chamber of
Commerce established |
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| 1917 |
Jefferson School built |
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| 1917 |
American Beet Sugar Plant
opened |
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| 1918 |
new High School built |
located at 220 E. State Street |
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1918
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Mason City Junior College
opened |
Iowa's 1st public junior college |
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1918
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1st hard-surfaced interurban
highway in Iowa |
from Mason City to Clear Lake
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| 18 Nov 1918 |
YWCA building dedicated
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located at Adams & State
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| 1919 |
Monroe School built |
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| 1922 |
Helen SCHULTZ starts
Red Ball Bus Line |
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NOTE: "Red Ball Transportation Co." was the first bus line
in the county and probably the only one owned by a woman.
| 1923 |
Madison School built |
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| 1923 |
Wilson School built |
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| 1924 |
Holy Family Catholic School opened |
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| 1925 |
Hardin School built |
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| 1927 |
Manager form of city government established |
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NOTE: Although the improvments made by the
commissioners were needed, the large debt forced the city to re-evaluate its form of government.
| 1927 |
YMCA building dedicated |
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| 28 Aug 1927 |
Mason City Airport dedicated |
Charles LINDBERGH attended
dedication |
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| 1930 |
Red Ball Transportion Co.
sold to Jefferson Transportation. |
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| 1933 |
Script Road built |
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NOTE: Script was printed and circulated
by the Chamber of Commerce; used to hire people to build a road ont he Winnebago River between
the Taylor Bridge & Illinois Avenue.
13 Mar 1934
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1st National Bank robbed by
John DILLINGER Gang |
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| 1936 |
1st North Iowa Band Festival |
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| 1936 |
Last run of street cars |
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| 1937 |
Mason City's 1st Radio Station |
Station KGLO |
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| 1939 |
Roosevelt Junior High School built |
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1939
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Junior High Wing added to
Monroe School |
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| 12 Oct 1940 |
1st scheduled airline flight |
by Mid-Continent Airways |
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1945
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Mayor-Council form of city
government established |
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| 1946 |
New airport dedicated |
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1946
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Mid-Continent Airlines,
intercontinental air service
comes to Mason City |
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1946
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1st jet, Air Force P-80 Shooting Star
lands in Mason City |
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| 1947 |
Mode-O-Day plant opened |
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| 1949 |
Hoover School built |
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| 1954 |
KGLO Television goes on the air. |
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| 1959 |
Sears Shopping Center opened |
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| 1960 |
Mason City's Industrial Park opened |
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| 1961 |
John Adams Junior High built |
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| 1961 |
Newman Catholic School opened |
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| 1962 |
Press Premiere of The Music Man |
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| 1964 |
Last passenger train in Mason City |
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| 1964 |
Willowbrook Mall opened |
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| 1966 |
new Mason City High School opened |
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1967
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Cashways Lumber & Terminal Railroad
Station destroyed by fire |
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| 1973 |
American Crystal Sugar Plant closed |
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| 1974 |
Armour closes old DECKER plant |
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| 1978 |
new Armour Plant opened |
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| 1979 |
Mason City brick yards closed |
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| 1979 |
Park Hospital torn down |
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| 1985 |
Southbridge Mall opened |
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SOURCES: "History of Mason City", Mason City Public Library
Submitted by Sharon R. Becker, February of 2011
Mason City Post Cards & Photographs
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