Stanhope, Iowa - founded in 1883
By Martin E. Nass
Transcribed for the IAGenWeb Project by Janelle Martin, with permission of Martin "Ed" Nass.
Stanhope Christian Church
built in 1899
Stanhope was the last town in the county to be platted. It was the desire
of the railroad to have a station every seven or eight miles and the distance
between Jewell Junction and Stratford called for a station between the two..
The Western Town Lot Company, the real estate division of the Toledo &
Northwestern Railroad, platted the town in October, 1882, and they named
it for Lady Hester Stanhope, the tragic figure in Whittier's poem "Snow Bound."
The town site was purchased by the railroad from Ray Parker, one of only
a dozen or so settlers in the area. The plot consisted of 24 acres of which
about four were used by the depot and grounds. The first depot agent was
Robert Wheatly.
Some later day residents jokingly said that the town got it name because
the people would Stand and Hope for a railroad - hence "StanHope." The original
town plat had only one angled street paralleling the railroad tracks, and
it was called Railway Street, and there were three north-south streets called
Adams, Park, and Brite Streets. Actually two of those names were printed
incorrectly on the plat map. They should have been Adams, Parker, and Bute.
A later plat map shows the north side of town bounded by Main Street and
two streets going north from it, called Alfred and Kepler Streets. The streets
Adam and Alfred were named for the two Kepler sons. Parker Street was named
for Ray Parker. Bute Street was named for Madison Bute.
A post office was established on January 9, 1882 with Mrs. Ray Parker appointed
to be the postmaster. At that time the mail came once a week from Hook's
Point. Hans Fardall moved the post office into the Swanson-Fardall general
store in the early 1890's. Any clerk in the store could distribute the mail;
this was slightly irregular, according to strict postal rules. A major fire
in 1906 wiped out the businesses on the east side of the business district;
it destroyed the post office building, along with so many others.This fire
followed a similar one in 1905 that destroyed much of the west side of the
street. After the fire in 1906 the postmaster, E. J. Johnson, met the train
and sorted the mail in a corner of the Swanson, Reilly & Ristrim general
store. Soon space was found for the post office in the Wilson & Kepler
general store, a new brick structure.
The town was incorporated on October 13, 1897. The first election was held
on November 15, 1897 in the Dick & Wilson Hall. The first town mayor
was Hans Fardal. Council members were: G. E. Hamaker, Iver Johnson, A. F.
Swanson, L. J. Stark, William Taylor and John Williams.
From the beginning, the town was served by four passenger trains daily. Most
of the time there were four freight trains also. The town was bisected by
the Jefferson Highway in the 1920's when most highways had names. This was
later to be called U. S. 60. Much more recently the number was changed to
U. S. 17 which it is called today. At the time it was called the Jefferson
Highway, bus service came through Stanhope. It came from Ames, through Ontario,
Mackey, and then Stanhope. The next stop traveling north was Pleasant Hill,
followed by Webster City. This line was the main road from Ames to Webster
City and north until the Wilson Highway was routed through Jewell, along
the path of present U. S. 69. The bus route was switched to pass through
Jewell and Blairsburg Corners along the Wilson Highway.
The first school was located in one room of a cabin owned by Mrs. William
R. Wilson. It was located south of Stanhope along the bank of Squaw Creek.
Anna Hamilton was the first teacher in this crude school. This site later
developed into the Squaw Creek School. After the area was becoming settled,
Mrs. Ray Parker taught five of the neighborhood children in her home, starting
in 1871. By 1879 a school was started in Lake Center, about a half mile south
of Stanhope. In 1893 a new school building was erected in the town limits.
Miss Belle Iverson was the first teacher - Mrs. Olmstead was the first principal.
Mr. Fred Runkle came in 1902 to serve as principal. He expanded the curriculum
to include the first year of high school. There were three teachers by that
time: Mr. Runkle, superintendent and higher grades; Pearl Watson, intermediate
grades; and Belle Iverson, primary grades.
The first graduates of Stanhope High School were honored at commencement
on June 18, 1903 in the Methodist Church. These two girls were Pearl Brewer
and Ida Iverson. In 1914, an eight-room brick building was constructed on
the school grounds. An addition of four classrooms and a gymnasium were added
in 1923. The last addition to the schools came in 1952 when four new grade
school rooms and new bathrooms were added. In 1958 a school reorganization
was completed that combined the schools of Ellsworth, Randall, Stanhope with
Jewell into the South Hamilton Community School District. The last graduating
class of Stanhope occurred in 1962. At first the K-6 and junior high students
stayed in Stanhope, while the High School students went to Jewell. By 1968
the K-6 students stayed in Stanhope and the rest went to Jewell. As if there
were not enough different ideas, another was developed in 1972 where all
fifth and sixth graders were shipped to Randall, the rest to Jewell. Soon
after, all grades were sent to Jewell. The school was torn down and the Park
View Apartments, a senior citizen housing project, was opened on the former
school grounds.
Today Stanhope has three church buildings - Our Saviors Lutheran in the east
part, Grace Methodist on the highway, and the Christian Church in the west
part of town. The town population in the 1990 census was 447.
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