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Anita, situated in the central part of Grant township, was surveyed and plated in 1869 by Lewis BEASON, but the plat was not filed for record until 1870, when Frank H. WHITNEY, B.F. ALLEN and John P. COOK purchased the site from Mr. BEASON, and on November 10th filed the plat for record. To the original plat a number of additions have been made. The town's name was selected in rather an interesting way. One day in the summer of 1869 a party of railroad officials were at Mr. BEASON's house for dinner and the probable name of the new town was discussed. The railroad men proposed that the town be called Beason, but Mr. BEASON objecting. Mrs. BEASON suggested that the town be called Anita in honor of her niece , Anita COWLES, then living in San Francisco. The matter was dropped at that time but later Mr. BEASON was notified by the officials that the suggestion of his wife was adopted and so the town bears the Spanish name, Anita, which translated means "Little Anna."

Anita was incorporated in 1875 with the following officers: Edwin CATE, Mayor; Martin BACH, Treasurer and Collector; Martin BACH, J.P. JAMES, H.C. SAUNDERS, Charles YOUNG , and Geo. TODD, Trustees. The first house was erected by C.D. BARTLETT in the spring of 1869, by KEITH, CATE & Co. Chas. F. CHASE and Claude FAUST established the first newspaper, The Anita Times, in the fall of 1877. Anita is one of the best towns for its size in this section of the state. Its business men are hustling and ever on the alert for improvement , its schools and churches are of the best and its many beautiful residences attest the thrift of the inhabitants. The population of the town in 1900 was 968.


From: Exposition Souvenir Album, published by Democrat Publishing Company, Atlantic, Iowa, 1904. Transcribed by Brenda Magee, March, 2010.