Emmet County, Iowa
Photo Gallery
Early photo of Wallingford, year unknown
Ike Rogers and son Carl. Ike was owner of a cabinet shop on South Sixth Street, Estherville.
Contributed by: David Danielsen, grandson of Ike.
Brink Oil Company, Estherville
Contributed by: David Danielsen
Casa Loma Cafe, Estherville, Iowa
Contributed by: Janet Anderson
Harry Fritz 1914 In front of Graff’s Theater Building
Contributed by: Janet
Anderson
Thomas Mahar Stands in Front of Cabin Located on West Side of
Mud Lake
Walked from Dubuque
Emmet's First White Man
One of the first known white men known to settle in Emmet County, Thomas Mahar, arrived in what is now High Lake Township in either late 1856 or early 1857.
Born May 21, 1821, in Ireland, Mahar came to America in 1846 and, for 11 years,
worked in the mills in the east. But in the spirit of adventure, Mahar started
westward, taking the railroad to the end of the line at Dubuque, then
shouldering his gun and ax and continuing by foot.
When arriving he staked out claims for himself, his brothers and his friends.
Although the exact date of his arrival has never been determined, Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Ridley met Mahar in the spring of 1858, when he came to Estherville to replenish his supply of tobacco, shortly after the arrival of the Ridleys.
According to early records, Thomas Mahar, John Rourke, Patrick and Edward Cohlan
took "preemptive claims" in Island Grove in 1855-56.
Mahar later sent to Ireland for his relatives, driving to Dubuque with an ox
team to meet them. They settled on claims near Mud (now Ingham) and Swan Lakes.
Mahar was a corporal in the Northern Border Brigade under Captain Harvey Ingham and during serious Indian troubles of the early days was stationed at New Ulm, Minn.
The cabin Mahar built was located on the west side of Mud Lake, which later was also the site of the Island Grove Post Office, which he served as postmaster. The postoffice closed Jan. 16, 1874. The cabin remained standing until 1945, when it was removed by Clarence Olson.
Mahar died in November, 1915, at the age of 94, and was buried in the Catholic cemetery in Estherville. His wife, mother and one child are buried on the island in Ingham Lake.
Contributed by: Ruth Hackett. Source: Estherville Daily News, Estherville, Emmet County, Iowa, Monday, Sept. 29, 1975.
OLD HUNTINGTON POST OFFICE
Old Huntington Post Office relocated to Emmet County Historical Society Museum Complex.
SHELTER HOUSE AT FORT DEFIANCE STATE PARK, ESTHERVILLE, IOWA
In 1931 the state of Iowa bought a 185 acre undeveloped tract southwest of Estherville for a park. It was named for Fort Defiance, a fort built in Estherville in 1862-3 for protection against hostile Indians; the fort was later demolished. The park has overnight camping areas, trails, picnic spots, and a log shelter house used for family reunions, weddings, day camps for boy and girl scouts, and other occasions. The picture was taken in late afternoon by Don Lundy and shows the sun reflecting on the shelter.
RINGSTED COOP
Contributed by:
Fran Jensen
Wallingford Creamery
Copied from a photo held at the Emmet County Historical Society Museum Complex.
Matthew and Margaret Cavers Richmond
Pictured above is Matthew Richmond and his wife Margaret Cavers Richmond, early settlers of Emmet county. Both were natives of Scotland. They were married in 1858 in Ontario, Canada and came to Emmet county in 1868. They spent the remainder of their life in Armstrong. Matthew died in 1921 and Margaret in 1919. For additional information on Matthew and Margaret Richmond please see the obituary page as well as the biography page.
Contributed by: Jim Richmond.
1892 photo of Walter Adam Richmond, age 21
This photo of Walter Adam Richmond was taken in 1892 when he was twenty-one years of age. He was one of the signers on January 17, 1893, of a petition for the incorporation of Armstrong that was filed with the District Court. [See the history of Armstrong on this site.]
Walter was the second son and fifth born child of a family of six born to parents Matthew and Margaret [Cavers] Richmond, early Emmet County pioneers. He was born in a two-room log cabin in Section 36 of Armstrong Grove Township, Emmet County, Iowa on 25 April 1871. His parents had arrived in Emmet County on October 27, 1868, having moved from Ayr, Ontario, Canada.
This photo was taken while Walter attended the North Iowa Normal School for teachers, which was located in Algona, Kossuth County, Iowa. [Walter received his early education from a county school house, known as the Old Hackerson School, located near the Richmond home on Section 36.] Following only a year of teaching in the country schools of the Burt School district, three miles southeast of Armstrong, he became one of Armstrong's first merchants and was engaged in a general mercantile business with E. J. Boots until the spring of 1897, specializing in dress goods, boots, shoes, hats and caps, and "spring clothing" and general dry goods.. At that time Walter's father, Matthew, retired from farming, moved to the new town of Armstrong, where he served as Postmaster during the administrations of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Walter continued farming until his own retirement in the spring of 1948. He passed away on 21 November 1950.
Walter was always active in community affairs. He was a regular sponsor of Redpath-Vawter Chautauqua during the many years it included Armstrong on it's circuit, an organizer and director of the first Emmet County Farm Bureau, the Farmer's Co-operative Elevator at Armstrong, the Riverside Rural Telephone system and an organizer of the first free rural mail delivery routes out of Armstrong. He was a lifelong Presbyterian and member of the Republican Party.
Photo contributed by Jim Richmond.
Nels P. Petersen Blacksmith Shop
Located at the Emmet County Historical Society Museum Complex.
Ringsted Meat Market
Contributed by: Fran Jensen
RINGSTED MILITARY BAND
Contributed by Fran Jensen. Can anyone identify the members of the Ringsted Military Band?
Main Street, Armstrong, Iowa--1911
Armstrong Basketball Team--1944
Team members include from left to right: Lambert Locker, Cork Plath, Glen Boyer, Dale Cummins, and Robert Richmond.
Photo contributed by: Jim Richmond.
Armstrong Basketball Team--1917
Contributed by: Jim Richmond. Photo from the collection of the late Grace [Clark] RICHMOND [1875-1974], provided courtesy of her granddaughter, Grace Eleanor [Richmond] {Plath} TYLER. The individual in the top left is Grace Eleanor's father, Matthew Wallace RICHMOND [1899 - 1982]. The individual in the top right is probably John THORSON, Sr. another longtime resident of Armstrong. Others identified are: bottom row, left to right: Lyndon Cheever, Lloyd Helgason, Toy Haworth [with ball] and John Kingston at the lower right. The individual above John Kingston and the instruction, middle, top row, are still not identified. Click on the photo for a larger view.
1928 Estherville All Stars Iowa Semi-Pro Champs
The Estherville All-Stars made football history in 1928 when the team compiled a 30-0 record, won the Iowa Semi-Pro title and recorded 25 shutouts during the year. The All-Stars won the Semi-Pro title on Sunday, Nov. 25, with a 7-3 victory over previously undefeated Valley Junction, a game in which a special Rock Island train carried 613 spectators to the game on the losers turf. According to reports of the game, Gordon Meeter scored Estherville's only touchdown on an end sweep after two power plays into the line put the ball within six inches of the goal and a pass from quarterback Sid Ellis to Russell Peterson added the point after. The photo was furnished the Daily News by Eving Ellerston and composed by Sorenson Studio in Estherville.
Contributed by: Jim Richmond. Source: Estherville Daily News, Estherville, Iowa, Friday August 10, 1973, page 3.
Taken from the collection of the late Grace [Clark] Richmond [Mrs. Walter A. Richmond]. Courtesy of her granddaughter Grace Eleanor [Richmond] {Plath} Tyler.
Photos of Early Estherville
Click on the photo for a larger view. Contributed by: Lara Braley.
Ringsted Main Street, year unknown
Contributed by: Fran Jensen
Memorial Day 1957, Ringsted, Iowa
This picture was taken at the Clarence and Amelia Petersen residence in Ringsted, Emmet Co. Iowa around Memorial Day 1957. The children are (Left to Right) Steve Crosswait, Sheri Crosswait (on tricycle), Jerald Petersen, Robert Petersen holding flag, Earl Crosswait, Esther Petersen, unknown boy, Glen Petersen. On the porch are Janet and Linda George. Please click photo for larger view.
Contributed by: Esther Tripp.
Unknown Women
1914
Can anyone identify the women in these photos? Avelardo Moulinet bought photo albums at a yard sale in Tempe, Arizona. They contain several photos of what appears to be an extended family. The above photo has a date of 1914 on it and the only other clue is the Estherville pennant.
In the photo below, the woman with the bright green dress holding a fan with a red flower in her hair is the same woman sitting behind the woman holding the Estherville pennant in the B & W photo above.
Please contact Avelardo if you can help identify the photos.
Early Emmet County Court House
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Emmet County Iowa Genealogy
URL: http://iagenweb.org/emmet
Page by Janet M. Young
Emmet County IAGenWeb Coordinator
