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Cherokee County IAGenWeb |
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Towns & Villages | ||||||||||||
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Cherokee was settled early and named after the county, the other towns
of the county awaited the coming of the railroad. The rails were laid
from the east and from the west, connecting in 1870 near Storm Lake in
Buena Vista County. As the old engines needed fuel and water often, depots had to be set up along the line. A Mr. Blair, railroad planner extraordinary, went along the line as it was laid from Sioux City and named the depots after his family and friends, or just for fun. In Cherokee County: Marcus, Hazard -- which changed its name to Meriden, and Aurelia were thus given names and watering tanks before they had residents. In 1888 the need for more rails was filled by a line from Cherokee to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The town of Larrabee was set up on this route, named after the governor. From Cherokee south to Onawa, the line ran through a new town called Quimby after a railway official. Washta, established in 1868, moved across the river to be on the railway. It's name "good" in the language of an Indian tribe of the area. Marcus, in the northwest part of the county, developed early into a large community, filling the need for grain storage and shipping, mills and trade. Meriden and Aurelia filled similar needs, becoming fine towns. Larrabee, Quimby and Washta helped open areas for business throughout the county. Cleghorn, between Meriden and Marcus, was founded in 1901 to fill the need for a shipping point. Source: Former Cherokee County Historical Society Working Papers | ||||||||||||
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| Cherokee Cherokee Businesses Cherokee County Towns & Businesses Iowa Gazetteer 1912 - 1913 Photographs of Cherokee |