LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA

The Wapello Republican
June 18, 1981, Section B, Page 77
Transcribed by Shirley Plumb, June 14, 2018

OLD SETTLEMENTS IN LOUISA COUNTY HISTORY

    Alimeda – laid out in July, 1859, as a depot stop on the Missouri and Mississippi Railroad and is now the Eastern part of Fredonia.

    Altoona – post office at Hillsboro from 1858 to 1861. Hillsboro is now a part of Columbus Junction.

    Bard – station stop on the Cedar Rapids and Burlington Railway line in 1863, halfway between Wapello and Columbus City on the south side of the Iowa River.

    Buffington Creek – unknown location.

    Cairo – settled in 1856, but platted in 1865 incorporating the settlement of Hope Farm.

    Cannonsburgh – platted in 1856 by R. B. Cannon as an Airline Railroad town in section 28, although it never existed.

     Clifton – the second station on the Missouri and Mississippi Railroad from Muscatine, established on the north side of the railroad tracks in 1858, surveyed and staked out by A. Kinney, west of the present Columbus Junction.

    Columbus City – established in 1840 through the sale of city lots, 1 ½ miles south of the forks of the Iowa and Cedar rivers.

    Columbus Junction – originally a station stop in 1857 for the Missouri and Mississippi Railroad, replaced by Clifton in 1858. Platted in 1870 by J. W. Garner.

    Cotterville – originally known as New Clifton, the town was named after its founder Margaret E. Cotter in 1878.

     Fredonia – established as a ferry landing in 1836, although laid out in 1840 by Alvin Clark on the east bank of the Iowa River below the junction of the Iowa and Cedar rivers.

     Garden City – established in 1916 as a vegetable market settlement northeast of Grandview on the Missouri and Mississippi Railroad.

     Gladwin – established in 1903 at its present site on the south side of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.

    Hillsboro – laid out in 1842 by William Todd on the south bank of the Iowa River adjacent to a ferry landing owned by Todd. Altoona was its first post office. Also known as Toddtown, now a part of Columbus Junction.

    Hope Farm – east of Cairo, settled in 1837 by the Isett brothers. Post office moved to Cairo in 1856.

     Lafayette – laid out in May, 1856 south of Hillsboro and on the north side of the Missouri and Mississippi Railroad, now a part of Columbus Junction.

    Lettsville – established as a railroad town in 1855 by James A. Green on the Missouri and Mississippi Railroad. Depot east of town was Ononwa which was added to Letts in 1863.

    Linton – farm south of Newport used as post office in mid-1800’s.

     Marsh – established in 1884 on the north side Central Railroad.

     Newport – laid out in 1885 by Harriet H. Briggs along the Iowa Central Railroad.

     Oakland – settlement in Oakland township established in 1854 on the west corner of common section lines 25 and 36.

    Ononwa – depot of Missouri and Mississippi Railroad at Lettsville, now the eastern part of the town of Letts.

    Osceola – bluff west of Hillsboro and the Rock Island Railroad tracks where Indians used to come to trade.

     Port Allen – laid out in 1841 at the fork of the Cedar and Iowa rivers. Also known as Port Island and the “garden of the west.”

    Port Louisa – south of the cutoff of Muscatine Slough in section 5 of Port Louis Township, laid out in 1854 by John C. Lockwood. Also known as Wallings Landing and was an established shipping port on the Mississippi River prior to railroads.

    Port Washington – surveyed by A. D. Hurley in 1848 in section 8 of Port Louisa Township on the Mississippi River.

    Salzertown – unknown location.

    Sand Bank – original name of area of present site of Columbus Junction.

    Spring Run – unknown location.

    West Port Louisa – platted by Henry Rockafellar in 1849 and was located in the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section 7 and 6 in Port Louisa Township.

    Wyman – incorporated in 1879 as the only town in Elm Grove township, settle in 1829, the only depot for the Burlington and Northwestern Railway, a narrow gauge, in Louisa County.