Lost Towns, Settlements, and Abandoned Post Offices
Lost Towns
Astor: Astor was located on the Milwaukee Railroad, 2 miles southwest of Manilla in Sections 33 and 34 of Nishnabotna Township. Established July 31, 1882 by Alexander Liedlum. Discontinued August 31, 1944. Astor was the "short cut" road to Denison.
Location of Astor on our 1920 township maps.
Bell or Bell Town: Bell Town was located about 1 1/2 miles northwest of Arion at a Milwaukee Railroad Station in Paradise Township. It was established August 17, 1887 by Cornelius A. Butterworth. Discontinued October 17, 1895. The Sandlandes Bell log cabin can be seen in the Washington Park in Denison.
Location of Bell on our 1920 township maps.
Berne: Berne was located 1 mile east of Monona County line or 3 miles west and 1 mile north of Charter Oak in Charter Oak Township.
Location of Berne on our 1920 township maps.
The following is a narrative about members of the Goslar family that farmed at Berne.
Chad and Wynn Goslar live on the farm that Chad's great-grandfather, William Goslar, purchased in the 1800s. His grandfather, Edward, later took over the farm, and when he retired in 1955, Chad's father, Ronnie, began farming. At that time, the Goslars' farm was located in the town of Berne, Iowa, a town that has since died and is now part of Ute, "The railroad ran right along the river down there [in Berne] ... Dad says as a kid, he used to throw coal off all the time. A coal train would come through and they would have to scoop the coal off for them. They also had pens for livestock, and they would bring their cattle and hogs down the road and load them on the train and send them to Chicago."
Source: A web site for The North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, located at Iowa State University. A Way of Life: Stories from Regional Farmers.
Brogan: Brogan was established in 1899 at the northwest corner of Sec. 5 of Jackson Township by Thomas Brogan. A hotel for railroad workers was built there with a depot and siding for loading and unloading lumber and livestock.
Crawford: Crawford began as a railroad station about 10 miles southwest of Denison with town lots laid out in October of 1869. It was listed as a Post Office address for some residents of Union Township in the 1870 census. The Post Office name was changed from Crawford to Dowville in April 1872, by which time the town name had already been changed to Dowville. Eventually, in 1879, the name was changed to Dow City, the name by which it presently is known.
Ells: Ells was located on the Illinois Central Railroad, 5 miles N.E. of Deloit in Sec. 23 of Stockholm Township. It was established January 24, 1900 by Benjamin F. Ells and discontinued April 15, 1914.
Location of Ells on our 1920 township maps.
Hohenzollern: Hohenzollern was located 1 mile West of Schleswig in Sec. 23 of Morgan Township. It was established February 5, 1891 by Jurgen Schroeder. When the railroad was completed, Hohenzollern was abandoned and some of the buildings moved to the newly established town of Schleswig which was established 1 East on November 16, 1899.
Location of Hohenzollern on our 1895 county map.
Kenwood: Kenwood was located 8 miles west of Denison in Sec. 9 of Paradise Township. It was established August 12, 1886 by William C. Saul and discontinued March 31, 1932.
Location of Kenwood on our 1920 township maps.
Old Kiron - Established by Swedish pioneers, it was the forerunner of the present town of Kiron. The original spelling was intended to be Kidron, but an error made it Kiron. Old Kiron was located 1 mile south of the corner of Sac and Ida Counties , and 1 mile east of the railroad in Stockholm Township.
Location of Old Kiron on our 1920 township maps.
Abandoned Post Offices
Adena was located 5 miles south of Westside, just east of the "5 Mile House" in Sec. 13 of Hayes Township. It was established July 15, 1880 by George S. Nickles and discontinued November 28, 1882.
Adrian was located 7 1/2 miles northwest of Ricketts in Sec. 8 of Soldier Township. It was established July 17, 1879 by Ralph French and discontinued March 18, 1881.
Boyer River, Boyer Valley: Boyer River was the post office listed for residents of Deloit (Village) in the 1870 census as well as some residents of Milford and Jackson Townships. According to our Early Deloit history page, during the days of the Mason Grove settlement the mail came irregularly from Galland's Grove. Then, when a post office was established with Benjamin Dobson as postmaster, it became necessary to select a town name. Initially, the office was named Boyer Valley. But, eventually was given the name Deloit.
Como was located about 1 1/2 miles southwest of Ricketts in Sec. 3 of Charter Oak Township. It was established October 5, 1875 by Barnett Brazell and discontinued February 24, 1880.
Coon Grove was located 6 miles south of Denison or 5 miles northeast of Buck Grove in Washington Township. It was established July 2, 1875 by J. Fred Meyers and discontinued April 3, 1878.
Johnsonville was located 5 miles north of Deloit or 4 miles south of Kiron in Sec. 30 of Stockholm Township. It was established October 6, 1899 by Frank L. Johnson and discontinued February 28, 1903.
Morgan was located about 2 1/2 miles southeast of Schleswig in Sec. 31 of Otter Creek Township. Established February 2, 1877 by Albright J. Brock. Discontinued November 12, 1894.
The following was written in Schleswig, Iowa: The First 75 Years. 1974. It (Morgan Post Office) was located two miles south and one mile east of the present town of Schleswig in the tiny village of several names: Boock Hall, the Ten-Mile House, Otter Creek, the Voss Place, and more officially District Morgan. Owner of the property was Albrecht J. Boock who became the first Postmaster there. He served seventeen years until Detlef Wieck succeeded him on February 12, 1894. The tenure of the next two Postmasters was of short durations: seven months for Detlef Wieck and two months for Paul Voss. On November 12, 1894, the Postoffice was moved to Hohenzollern.
Location of Morgan on our 1895 county map.
Paradise was located about 3 miles northwest of Dow City in Sec. 5 of Union Township. It was opened February 5, 1862 by Spencer Smith and closed November 13, 1863.