Franklin Township - Towns Histories
Last updated 04 March 2021
Grace Hill
This town was laid out and located on Section 11. It was near the west line of the township and affords postal and trading facilities for the people from the west part of Franklin township and the east part of Dutch Creek township. The post office was located across the line in Dutch Creek township. As to its size and pretensions, not much cane said and it is not known whether or not the projectors of the town ever had any sanguine expectations of a grand and prosperous career.
Source: WCGS Fall/Winter 2005 newsletter and Atlas of Keokuk and Washington Counties, Iowa (1971). This page was prepared and posted by Norma Jennings Dec 2012
Titus
There were no stations built at first, a box car being used as a depot. A few years later the Titus station was built. The Titus store started in the summer of 1903. B.F.DIckson leased the land and built the store. Later Mr. McFarland bought the store and put Merle Crayne there to manage it.
The Milwaukee Railroad went through Titus in 1902 and Mr. Wright was the first agent. Mr. and Mrs. Shendell had living quarters at the depot at one time. Mr. Shendell sold pianos and gave music lessons.
A Mr. Stoddard from Vermont ran a store and the post office. The last storekeeper in the town was Charles Strohm and the store closed in 1931. Mr. John Johnson purchased the building. The post office lasted from 1910-1913.
Source: WCGS Fall/Winter 2005 newsletter and Atlas of Keokuk and Washington Counties, Iowa (1971). This page was prepared and posted by Norma Jennings Dec 2012
West Chester
The land where West Chester is located consisted of wild prairie with log cabins dotted here and there before 1872. The railroad company bought the land from Ed Clemons and sold it by subscriptions to start the town. It was the first organized for a railroad town, the only one in the county west of Washington on the Knoxville branch. The railroad went through in 1872.
The first building was the depot and in the west end of it was the Post Office. The town was named Chester in 1872. Later it was fund out that there was another Chester, Iowa and so in the spring of 1873, they named it West Chester.
The second building was the elevator built in 1872 by Tom Downing. He also built the old hotel on the corner that was just west of the barber shop. At that time, it was used as a general store. He and his family lived in the upstairs. Soon after this, the building west of the bank was built for a drug store and was later made into a restaurant. The lumber yard and office were erected next.
The first dwelling house built in West Chester was built in the summer of 1873 by John Winters. The second residence was built by Jim Crayne. then Ed Clemens built a building in 1873 which was built for a hotel and used for that purpose for several years. It was there that the first telephone exchange was operated by Mr. Dayton.
The first school house was built in the summer of 1873, and the first teacher was Ellery Poster. Lida Booth taught after Poster's death. Others who taught in the little frame building were Sadie Smith, Laura Doolittle, Walter Kleese, and Nellie Skipton. then came the old brick schoolhouse built in the early '80s. Among the first teachers were Vincent Nash, Abbie Boyer, Mr. Arthur and others.
From this sprang the consolidated school. On Sundays the schoolhouse was used for Sunday School and preaching. The first Sunday School was organized in the fall of 1873. John Elrod was the first minister to preach the Gospel in West Chester. Later, a Methodist Church was built, and in 1886, a Baptist Church was built.
The only factory West Chester ever had was the Cheese Factory built in 1886 and which lasted until 1906. It was built by A. G. Leet in 1886 and was owned and operated with the help of his wife and son Willard.
Source: WCGS Fall/Winter 2005 newsletter and/or Atlas of Keokuk and Washington Counties, Iowa (1971). This page was prepared and posted by Norma Jennings Dec 2012
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