by a very numerous man-John Smith-on the northwest corner of Main and C Streets, and was followed by Smith Brothers. The next store was that of N. B. Churchill, or about the same time John A. Boston and Mr. Solyst. Changes were very numerous, both in men and firms, but business fastened itself on Main Street, between B and C Streets.
The grain and implement business leads in the persons of J. P. Hesson, and Hendrickson & Griffith for the St. Paul & Kansas City Grain Company. Both of these firms have elevators, and large bins, and this has become one of the largest shipping points in the country.
Samuel Reid and the Boston Company lead in general merchandise. Reid & Silliman bead the hardware trade, while a large stock business is carried on by John Peck, J. P. Hesson, and others, with a few other firms of the usual nature.
Although no innovations of a metropolitan nature have been made, there is one in the newspaper line which deserves mention, namely the Northern Light, a diminutive local sheet, published by a boy, J. E. Lewis, during the Latrobe days.
The postmasters have been J. W. Smith, February 23, 1882 (name changed from Latrobe to McCallsburg, February 23, 1883) ; A. B. Griffith, December 29, 1886; and J. H. Boston, May 23, 1889.
Roland, unlike any other town in Story County, arose from the Grange movement. It has been a Scandinavian community from the first, and surrounded by rich Norwegian farms and thrifty wealth. Like Chicago, the great English critic, Matthew Arnold, would call it "beastly prosperous." It seems to be a part of the country around more than almost any other center in the county; while its strong Norwegian stamp and the striking absence of Democrats give it a quaint, quiet and unique air among its sister towns in Story County. It has nearly 300 inhabitants, it is thought, and schools and churches that are their pride, although they have shown no tendency to have the usual secret societies, newspapers, and incorporation that the American town usually aspires to at a very early stage in its career.
The land was entered June 14, 1855, by Jacob Erickson. As the community increased in Norwegian farmers, there arose occasional union of effort, and in the early seventies the Grange movement found a ready hearing, resulting in the organization of Norway Grange No. 218. Very soon a Grange store was proposed, and in June, 1873, Jonas Duea & Co. built the store on the site of the present schoolhouse. The associates of Mr. Duea were John Evenson, Paul Thompson and Abel Oleson. After several changes in the firm, a new building was erected opposite the Norwegian Lutheran Church for the store in which Mr. Evenson and Mr. Duea were the active spirits. A post-office had been secured May 4, 1870, with Jonas Duea 'as postmaster, and although administrations "may come and they may go," he seems to keep right on "forever." The name, Roland, unusual and easy to spell, was suggested by Mr. Evenson in memory of a certain legendary character of ancient Norway. With the post-office and store came Albert Thompson's blacksmith shop on the site of the creamery, and the wagon shops of Ole and Andrew Axelton within three or four years. This went on until on December 3, 1880, a three-mill tax was voted for the new railway from Marshalltown to Story City. The track got through just in time, the last day of October, 1881. Jacob Erickson, who had contracted with the company to plat thirty acres on the south side of the track and give alternate lots, died June 27, 1881, and although the survey was made the next autumn, the settlement of the estate