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The U.S.A. |
Stacyville, Iowa |
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Stacyville, Iowa |
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The name "Stacyville Savings Bank" was given
to the bank in Stacyville in 1928. The historical records show
that there was a bank in Stacyville as early as 1897. Changes
were taking place rapidly in those days. The early population,
which was predominantly english, from Massachusetts and Illinois,
began to move westward and German families from Wisconsin and
Illinois began moving in. In 1917, it is reported that Stacyville
had two banks: German Savings Bank and The Stacyville Bank. There
was also a bank at one point operating under the name of Stacyville
State Savings. Current banking is handled under the name of St.
Ansgar State Bank - Stacyville branch. Longtime banker Fritz
Schrandt passed away in 2002, ending yet another era of Stacyville
banking history. |
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| A post office was established at Stacyville in 1856 and the following served as postmasters through 1917: Homer I. Stacy, Benjamin Loring, Mr. Orcutt, followed by Mrs. Orcutt, L.W. Baldwin, H.P. Schoonover, Fred Bascomb, Tilla Bascomb, Mrs. Edith Spensley, and George H. Kinney appointed in 1914. The Stacyville Post Office later occupied the brick bank building. B.W. Bush was postmaster when I was growing up, following by his wife Irma Bush. The post office was replaced with a modular unit installed in 2002. The postal box doors were sold to those interested in a memento. The old bank building is still seeing use as another business moved in. |
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From my memory, there was Wolf's Grocery (I remember this as the store's owner Art Wolf and I shared the same birthday), Stehn's, Thome's and Wageman's. In 2002, Thome's remains, now owned and operated by Jeff Adams. Thome's is a great place to get broasted chicken and locally grown Shitake mushrooms. Penny candy was always a treat but it always took a long, long time to pick out and fill a tiny brown paper sack. |
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| In my memory there were Durbens, Stameyers and Dan's Dairy. The two locations that housed the ice cream parlors were: the present Ed's Floral building with mirrors across the wall and Mary Blake's current restaurant and Stacyville Memory Museum location. |
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| In 1917, H.G. Farley is listed in this occupation. |
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A 1917 account listed that the first blacksmith shop (no date given) was operated by J. T. Spearman. In 1917 Joseph Bawek is listed as harnessmaker. Bawek's
Repair Shop continued in business a long time.In later years
son Glen operated Bawek's Shoe and Clothing Store which is still
in operation under this name. |
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In 1857 there was one physician. It was noted that "sickness has hardly been known amongst us here" according to memoirs by Homer Stacy. Dr. Robert J. Smith was the doctor in later years, having earlier had a practice with Dr. T.E. Blong. Henry Schieu operated the first drug store in town. By 1917, J. H. Huber is listed in this trade. 1917 dentist was: Dr. L.T. Fillenwarth. Later (in my childhood) Dr. Staudt served the town as a dentist. Elderly and nursing care centers included Falks Nursing Home and the Stacyville Community Nursing Home constructed in the 1960s. A branch clinic of the St. Ansgar Clinic serves the area from a location adjacent to the nursing home. |
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Stacyville's spot on the Little Cedar River made the erection of a mill a logical move. The location had both milling and water power advantages. In July of 1856, the Stacy Brothers along with the Rolfe Brothers (Dr. B.F. and Charles G.), built the first mill. In addition, a saw mill expanded the operation t include flour, feed and lumber milling. A list of 1883 businesses included a roller flour mill. The old flour mill was later rebuilt into a full process roller mill to grind feed. The mill is gone, immortalized in Eloise Bissen's painting from a postcard and the remaining cement dam constructed about 1917. Feed Mill was owned by J.C. Kinney in 1917. Stacyville Co-Op Elevator (Grain & Fertilizer) A large veterinary barn still stands one corner of Main Street. The lot it is on was originally part of park area donated by Homer Stacy. The park was moved a block south about 1905. Listed as a "Veterinary Surgeon" in a 1917 account was: B.T. Hartnell. Dr. Robert F. Walser served the area for many years. |
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| A Mrs. Allen is listed as millinery in 1917. |
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In 1857, two surveyors were in practice - one practical engineer. Eight carpenters and joiners and more wanted for the coming season, two wheelwrights, two cabinetmakers, one blacksmith and one millwright. The trades in demand were a tinsmith and harnessmaker (were much wanted). Also by 1857, two railroad routes had been surveyed and favorable reports were made. These routes were: Northwestern and Dubuque and St. Paul companies. As it happened the Illinois Central Railroad is the one that made it to Stacyville - in 1897. The advent of the railroad made grain and coal businesses viable. In 1917, Speltz Grain and Coal Company and the Stacyville Grain and Coal Company were in operation. |
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| This list is a catch-all for businesses
that have operated and in some cases still do in the area. They
have not been categorized: Stacyville Public Library Stacyville L.P. Gas Co. Walt's Signs (Painting & Decorating) Durben's Clothing Store Durben's Saw Repair Shop Marion Pitzen Antiques Gene's Sales & Service (Electrical Goods) Wagner Insurance Koster Insurance Brown Insurance Bisbee Lady be Lovely Beauty Salon Jerry's Barbershop Bill's Barbershop Hatten & Son Funeral Home Brown Oil Co. Standard Oil Station Wheels Charlie's Co-Op Station Co-Op Oil Bulk Moorman's Feed Ernie's Radio & TV (also Religious Gifts) Huemann Family Car Wash (Later Hemann Car Wash) Motor Mart Ed's Florals General Telephone Company of the Midwest Interstate Power Company Dunkleberg, McKinley and Folkers, Attys. Huemann Milk Hauling Stolzenburg Milk Hauling (Later Stolzenberg & Lowe, then Lowe) Adams Motor Company |
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| In 1917, the Stacyville Lumber Company is listed as a business. The business later expanded to include ready-mix cement. Hardware stores were operated by Heimer & May and M. Morson in 1917. Later May's and Hatten Hardware stores were in operation. Brumm Construction Company operated in more recent times. |
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The first hotel was built in June of 1856 by Charles Fitch. In one account by Homer I. Stacy, it mentions that in the Spring of 1857 there were two hotels and two stores in operation. Another account lists that a Daniel Hill operated the pioneer hotel in a building erected by H.I. Stacy. A list of 1883 businesses included a hotel. In 1917, Matt Diedrich ran a restaurant. Home Cafe (Gerks) |
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(Source: Genie Bug - NIG Newsletter, Sept. 2002 Roster List to be added |
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See info on site: USS Pennsylvania Memorial |
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Missing Personnel Office Website of the Details of Pitzen's Disappearance expressing the sympathy of the Iowa General Assembly to the family of Captain John R. Pitzen, United States Navy. Visitation Cemetery Stacyville, IA |
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Stacy Family Information Available Here |
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between Veblen's graduation from Carleton [College in Northfield, MN] and his enrollment at Cornell are another, especially his time in Stacyville, Iowa." I am investigating this time period as an ongoing area of research interest. Link reference to above quotes: Unexamined Moments. Marriage to Stacyville native: Ellen Rolfe On the site: Veblen - The Person - Marginal Academic his marriage to the daughter of a prominent Midwest family is detailed. The marriage took place in 1888 and the couple spent time in the Stacyville area from then until 1891 when he took a teaching post at Cornell. Ellen Rolfe was "the daughter of one of the leading families of the Middle West. Her father, a grain-elevator and railroad magnate, was appalled that his daughter was marrying a shiftless atheistic son of Norwegian immigrants. But he made the best of it and allowed the young couple to settle on one of his Iowa farms. According to Ellen Rolfe wrote later that "this was the turning point in our lives." In his Iowa retreat, Veblen immersed himself deeply in the study of economics. The source mentions that after ten years of frustration and idle drifting [thus placing them perhaps in Iowa in the earlier 1880s], Veblen finally decided to return East to study economics, registering at Cornell in the winter term of 1891. Ellen and Thorsten, after a tumultous marriage divorced and he remarried to a divorcee in 19I4 - Anne Fessenden Bradley. One question that has been raised is what Veblen was doing exactly in his time in the Stacyville area. Certainly he lectured now and then, read profusely also. One contention is that he was working in some area of the publication or newspaper trade. Research continues to confirm or flesh out details on this idea. Synopsis of Thorsten Veblen's Life San Jose University's Chronology Thorstein Bunde Veblen Thorstein was son of Thomas Anderson Veblen and Kari Bunde. |