Doran was located in the NW 1/4 of Section 34, Jenkins Township.   A post office was established May 21, 1857 with N.W. Moss as the first postmaster.   Mail was received from the Frink and Walker Stage Line on its way from Charles City.   In 1856 Joshua Pilcher opened an inn and tavern just across the road and named it Pleasant Hill House. Groceries and Dry goods were also sold.   During the Civil War it became well-known as a stopping-over place for soldiers on their way to and from the front.   The post office operated until August 31, 1904.

    Today the only evidence remaining is the old stage coach barn and part of the house.

    The postal department named it Doran, but the reason for the name is not known.

    The entry in the "1882 Iowa State Gazetteer and Business Directory," contributed by Cathy Labath, said:

    Doran, Mitchell County, Iowa -- Simply a farmhouse postoffice in Mitchell county, 16 miles northeast of Osage, the nearest station, on the C. F. & M./I.C.R.R., to which a mail stage runs daily; fare, 75 cents; C. Carpenter, postmaster.

 

SOURCES:

    Mitchell County Historical Society
       "Mitchell County Memories 1846-1996"

    Cathy LaBath <labaths@worldnet.att.net>

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NOTE:

    In the spring of 2002 Vivian Du Shane, of Osage, located and identified the site, spoke with the present owners of the farm, and took a tour of the former town of Doran.

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Transcribed in June 2002 by: Neal Du Shane

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