LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA

The Republican Centennial Edition, Wapello, Louisa County, Iowa
Thursday, July 12, 1956, Section Three, Page 51
Transcribed by Shirley Plumb, July 1, 2019

DAVE WALLACE’S ODESSA, IOWA
Most Beautiful Extinct Village Site

    The writer and his wife both stood on the corner of Second and Commercial streets patiently watching the traffic clear away before advancing any farther. We were planning on going on to Water and “B” street to get some local interest stories and more Photos for the Centennial edition of the Wapello Republican.

    The traffic which blocked us was Dave Wallace’s bull shaking the chain in his nose ring and the town was Odesa, Iowa.

    What a beautiful location for the extinct town of Odesa and we did find the locations of several old dwelling sites and a few extremely large old trees which were planted on a straight line at the foot of “D” street along the edge of Lake Odessa. This was where the big river boats once tied up when landing at Odessa back in the 1860’s.

    Odessa was laid out in 1861 on Lots 4 and 5, section 7: Lots 1 and 2, section 18; all in township north, range 2 west, but today is only a quiet site in Dave Wallace’s pasture.

    The streets were Pork Street, Water street and second, third and fourth streets, running north and south. East and west they ran alphabetically from A to H streets. And in the center of the town, running east and west was Commercial Street.