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Shelby County |
CHAPTER XI -- CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES, PAST AND PRESENT (CONT'D)THE COUNTY SEAT AND PRESENT TOWNS AND VILLAGES. (CONT'D)PLATS AND ADDITIONS.This plat included the northwest quarter of section 18, township 79, range 38, with the following named streets: Fifth street, Second and Third avenue, and also Anne, Mary, Ellen, Durant, Baldwin, Victoria, Franklin and Lillie streets. (Changes in some of these names were afterwards made.) The streets hereinbefore named were laid out sixty-six feet wide, except Durant and Baldwin, which were eighty feet in width, and Fifth street, which was thirty-three feet wide at the north end and fifty-nine feet and four inches wide at the south end. The alleys all ran east and west, except in blocks 58, 60 and 80, and there were no alleys laid out in blocks 41, 56, 59 and 81. The lots, generally, were forty-four by one hundred and twenty feet. The survey and plat appears to have been made by Charles F. H. Forbes, civil engineer and land surveyor, on the dates between March 29 and July 15, 1859. Mr. Long acknowledged this plat before Wells Spicer, notary public, on July 15, 1859. A number of interesting things appear on this plat. For instance, block 56 is platted as Plum Park, lying between Durant and Baldwin streets, and between Fourth and Fifth streets. Block 59, lying between Baldwin and Durant streets, and First and Second streets was designated as "Beauty Spot." Block 41, lying between Anne and Mary streets and between Second and Third streets, was designated as "Culloden Place." Twenty-two acres, situated in the northwest part of the plat, was known as "Lillie Park." This territory, platted by James M. Long, includes the public square, on which the business blocks and court house now stand, and much of the residence property to the south and southwest on the beautiful plateau that must have appealed to men of the time as a proper and beautiful site for a city. Most of the town plats of Shelby county, up to this time, had included territory on low and poorly drained land. On September 16, 1879, James M. Long and Hattie B. Long, his wife, again platted territory to meet the growing needs of Harlan. This plat was known as Long's Second Addition to Harlan, and consisted of a part of the west half of the northeast quarter of section 18, township 79, range 38. Subsequent plats or subdivisions of territory, previously platted, were made at different dates by Frank Crouch and Addie E. Crouch; Samuel Ganger, D. Z. Ganser, Sobina Ganser and M. A. Ganser; J. M. Long and Hattie B. Long; Joseph W. Davis, Sarah E. Davis, Edwin W. Davis and May B. Davis; George D. Ross and Emily O. Ross; O. P. Wyland and R. J. Wyland, his wife; W. T. Smith; Frank Myatt and Leefay Myatt, his wife; William Wyland and Helen M. Wyland; B. I. Kinsey; E. W. Davis, J. W. Davis and S. E. Davis. On January 15, 1880, McDonald's Addition to Harlan, Iowa, was platted. This plat was really acknowledged by D. M. Wyland and Belle Wyland, his wife, but the territory platted appears to have been owned by Thomas McDonald previously. The east and west streets named were Elm, Walnut, Pine, Laurel and Willow. On September 1, 1881, C. J. Wyland and Amanda H. Wyland, his wife, D. M. Wyland and Belle Wyland, his wife, platted part of the north fractional half of the southwest fractional quarter of section 18, in township 79, range 38, to be known as Wyland's Addition to Harlan, Iowa. On August 9, 1881, W. J. Davis platted certain real estate to be known as Davis' Addition to Harlan, Iowa. On April 17, 1882, W. J. Davis platted part of the south one-half of the southwest quarter of section 18, and part of the north one-half of the northwest quarter of section 19, all in township 79, range 38, to be known as Davis' Second Addition to Harlan, Iowa. On January 30, 1895, Ira B. Overholt and Eleanor Overholt, H. R. Tinsley and Grace Tinsley platted certain territory now lying in the northwest part of Harlan, to be known as Overholt and Tinsley's First Addition. On April 29, 1899, M. K. Campbell and Bertha R. Campbell platted certain territory now situated in the southwest part of Harlan, to be known as Lincoln Park Addition. On September 28, 1900, Ira B. Overholt and wife platted, to be known as Addition of Ira B. Overholt to the City of Harlan, Shelby County, Iowa, certain territory now situated in the northwest part of Harlan. On June 4, 1871, Henry Farnam platted the northeast quarter of section 13, township 79, range 39, to be known as Farnam's Subdivision. At this time it would appear from the acknowledgement that Mr. Farnam was a resident of New Haven county, Connecticut. On December 7, 1911, L. F. Potter, C. F. Swift, O. P. Wyland, W. T. Shepherd and G. W. Cullison platted a large tract of land lying south of Pine street and west of Twelfth street, on one of the most beautiful ridges in western Iowa, under the name of "College Heights," which was part of a farm owned by Ed. Currier, later by M. K. Campbell and W. W. Wheeler. For twenty years following the date of the Ault plat and of the first Long plat, Harlan was destined to exist only as a village and to be without officers, ordinances, public improvements, police supervision and the other advantages that attend upon and are a part of corporate existence. In the light of what Harlan is today, it seems rather strange that in the earlier history of the town, the progressive spirits of the village deemed it necessary to prepare from time to time special arguments for the incorporation of the town. For instance, the Harlan Herald of April 24, 1879, advises incorporation of the town and refers to the town as the most beautifully located in Iowa, urging that to incorporate gives law, order and local government, better management and attention to the streets, alleys, sidewalks; lessens danger from fire, affords police regulation, assists collection of revenue, etc.; that the property owner gains by advance in value of his property and gets the advantage of protection from burglary, theft and fire. Transcribed by John Schulte, March, 2024 from the Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, by Edward S. White, P.A., LL. B.,Volume 1, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1915, pp. 228-230. |
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