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ELLSTON'S TELEPHONE FACTORY
Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, July 19, 1916
Ellston is to have a factory, capitalized at $50,000 for the Acme telephone and switchboard; the merchants short account fire proof system and other articles. The company has secured the hotel property and will erect a brick building 50 x 100 feet. The C.B. & Q. R.R. will build a switch back to the plant for the convenience of the company. Officers are B. F. Burwinkle, president; N. A. Burwinkle, vice-president; L. R. West, secretary; and Joseph Clough, treasurer.
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Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, August 09, 1916
ELLSTON - E. L. Todd has traded his telephone exchange here to H. B. Hayden, of Tingley.
A new brick garage is in the process of construction on the lots west of Dr. Hill's office and when completed, will be occupied by Richard Daub. Watch Ellston grow.
Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa
Monday, June 21, 1976
Page 1B
Ellston Museum
The Register's Iowa News Service
ELLSTON, IA. - This tiny town (population 46) in south-central Iowa's Ringgold County has the distinction of having an
old telephone factory in which a telephone was never made. The structure, which has been used as a garage since it was
erected in 1914, today houses a portion of the Ringgold County Pioneer Center, which tells the story of life in a small
rural community. According to Charles BENNETT, president of the Ringgold County Historical Society, Inc., which maintains
the center as a museum, many years ago two strangers received a $30,000 loan from a local bank to establish the factor
they boasted would make the town the largest telephone manufacturing city west of the Mississippi River.
Unfortunately, soon after the pair received the money, they vanished, causing the bank to fail and many residents to lose
their savings.
But Iowans now are beginning to benefit from the telephone factory building. A musuem that has been
established in the building now includes a vast collection of farm machinery and other items. Maintained nearby is the
restored home of Elihue and Emiline (sic) LUCAS CORNWALL. The home was constructed during the Civil War era and is kept as
a memorial to area pioneers.
Ellston may be reached from Interstate Highway 35 from either the Grand River-Garden
Grove or the Decatur City exits. Motorists should proceed west on either County Road J20 and then north on County
Road P68, or take Iowa Highway 2 from the interstate and go north on P68 at Kellerton.
Ringgold Roots
Ringgold County Genealogical Society
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County
Vol. III, Pp. 19-22.
July, 1982
THE OLD TELEPHONE FACTORY
It was the spring of 1914, there were two strangers in Ellston. Their mission slowly unfolded. They were businessmen
looking for a place to establish a factory to manufacture telephones and Ellston appealed to them.
Was Ellston interested? Would Ellston build a factory for them? The idea took root. Money was raised. Soon
carpenters and masons were at work and a large 100 by 50 foot factory fuilding came into being. When the building
was completed, a community barbeque was held. Prosperity was just around the corner. The promoter said that
Ellston was to become the largest telephone manufacturing city west of the Mississippi River - Acme telephones would be
in every home. The town's progressive banker advanced the money (said to be $30,000) to the promoters to purchase
telephone manufacturing machinery and supplies. The people of the community waited. . .
. . . and waited. . . .
. . . and waited. Nothing came. The promoters could not be located.
Slowly the truth began to sink in - Ellston had been "taken." The bank folded. Many prominent citizens found their savings,
which had been invested in the building, were lost. The building has had many owners and uses over the years.
Finally in 1971, Mrs. Russell CHEERS, prominent Union County farmer was the owner. He presented it to the Ringgold
County Historical Society for use as a museum for the preservation and display of horse-drawn and early tractor
farming equipment. The roof, windows and doors were in bad condition, even though the building was structurally sound.
A financial campaign of gifts and memorials was held, raising sufficient funds to renovate the structure. On May 6, 1973,
the building was re-dedicated to its new purpose - the preservation and display of the Agricultural Production
Artifact used by our forefathers, together with the romance of their development and use as the farmers of southern Iowa
endeavered to subsitute horse and mechanical power for muscle power. Since then, sections have been added for the
display of homemaking equipment and other objects connected with rural America. Informational plaques are with many artifacts
to give the visitor a better understanding of the development, use, and history of each article on display. In some
cases the guest may operate the machines or instrument or see it in operation. If you have never visited the Pioneer
Center at Ellston, Iowa, please try to do so as it is a most interesting and enjoyable learning experience. And if it's
been a while since you have visited, plan to visit again soon as something new is always being added or done. You will
find it worth your time. Take a picnic lunch as there is a cool, shady park right close by.
Telephone Factory, Ellston
Photograph by Sharon R. Becker, 2009
Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2010
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