LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA

This article was found pasted into a scrap book prepared by Dorothea ‘Dottie’ Mc Dole.
Name of newspaper not noted, handwritten date was April 14, 1996
Transcribed by Lynn McCleary, July 26, 2014

History of Elrick Juntion

At each meeting of the Board of directors of the Louisa County Historical Society, there is an allotment of time on the agenda that is allocated to “MOMENTS OF HISTORY”. This consists of a five minute presentation of some aspect of Louisa County History. Part of the following essay is taken from a recent capsule of Elrick Junction history of prepared by Edwin L. Bayne and presented by Charles Beck.

“The Louisa County Historical Society has many old photographs on display in their museum in Wapello. One of these old pictures shows the general merchandise store that was owned and operated by Elrick and Thomson in Elrick Junction, Iowa. That store has been history for many years now – although only a few years ago the foundation of the old building was still there – and I’m sure that you can find traces of it there today.

That picture brings back memories. When I was a boy, I remember hearing my Aunt Patience Elrick talk about that store. I’m not sure if it was operated by her husband Fred, or by his brother Jim. It was Jim Elrick who went to Cripple Creek, Colorado during the gold rush days to operate a general merchandise store during the boomtown atmosphere. I don’t know if he made in Colorado or not – somehow I doubt it.

I can see that I need to get more involved in ancestor tracing. Many may remember Patience Elrick. She lived the last years of her life on a farm south of Fairview Church. She was a sister to Julia Scull Bayne, mother of my grandfather Arthur Bayne.

Elrick Junction was laid out in March, 1899 by H. O. Weaver. It was located near the junction of Iowa Central Railroad and the Muscatine North and South Railroad, about one mile south of the town of Florence. Elrick Junction was a busy place in the early 1900’s. With two railroads coming together in the community, there was a need to serve shippers, travelers and railroad personnel. In addition to the Elrick and Thompson general store there was a hotel with a restaurant. There was a Y where the train engines could back into and change directions for their return trip. The road bed for the Y is still in place. The two acres that it occupied made a great rabbit hunting area for my brother Jim and me in the 1940’s.

Another business survived into the 1940’s and that was a small shack that sold some groceries and other items and is remembered for its glass topped gravity fed gasoline tank. This business was operated by Dad Lite. In bad weather, kids waited in the store for the arrival of the school bus. In 1945, I drove a school bus that picked up passengers at the home of Glenn and Treva Beard.

The Musctine, Burlington and Southern railroad went out of business in 1922. Known as the Muscatine North and South Railroad, when it was built from Muscatine to Elrick Junction in 1896. It was renamed the M.B. and S. when it was extended to Burlington some years later.

The Iowa Central Railroad was to become the Minneapolis and St. Louis (M. & St. L.) I can still hear the old steam engine whistles sounding of as they pounded their way up the hill through Elrick Junction in the middle of the night. It took an extra engine or two to pull a long train up the hill toward Newport. Some 20 residents still live in Elrick Junction and only the grades remain of the railroad history.” ~ By Edwin Bayne.

After this meeting a native of the area Oleata Schaper told of the old wooden water tank located there that serviced the thirsty steam locomotives. She also recalls the huge icicles that the zero temperatures created from the leaks in the cracks in the wall of that old tank.

Also the following item was taken from Morning Sun News Herald edition of Jan. 24, 1905. “Tuesday morning between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and noon the roundhouse of the Muscatine North and South Railroad burned at Elrick Junction. This was the southern terminus of the railroad. The loss of the building which was of frame construction, was total and with about 60 tons of coal and the beds and bedding of the crew, overcoats, dinners and working tools of the section men.

The fire was caused by a burning tar bucket, which ignited while the section men were heating it on a stove in the building for the purpose of painting the smokestack of the building. The bottom of the bucket came off and the tar ignited.

The fire spread immediately and with such rapidity that it soon became beyond control. The train cres now carry their bedding with them. It is uncertain at this time whether the building will be rebuilt, but it is thought to be unlikely.”

Apparently the original intent was to continue these tracks on to Burlington, but a later decision was to run the tracks to Oakville and use the rails of the Muscatine Burlington and Southern.

A very serious railroad fan and researcher, Brent Maxwell, of Burlington is in the process of accumulating stories, pictures, clippings and memories of the railroads of this specific area. His intentions are to document this history in a book. The Louisa County Historical Society has given its wholehearted endorsement to this effort and encourages anyone who can, to assist Brent’s project. ~ Furnished by Charles H. Beck.

Additional Note: The History of the Muscatine North and South Railroad Co. Including the Muscatine, Burlington & Southern Railroad and the Burlington, Muscatine & Northwestern RR was published by Brent Maxwell, Burlington, Iowa 1996. Library of Congress Catalog No. 96-79597.