Snapshots of History: By Mike Avitt

By Editor | April 29, 2026 |

This view of Knowlton is looking west about 1912. The road seen in the photo is called J-23 today. The bridge in the foreground was built in 1888 by Greenman & Son. It had a 70-foot span.
I have written many articles about Knowlton and it is my hope that someday the information from these articles will be combined into comprehensive historical account. I’ll try to fill a few holes with this article.
The tracks of the Chicago, St. Paul, & Kansas City Railroad were laid through Ringgold County in the fall of 1887. This railroad, known after 1892 as the Chicago Great Western, was a mainline railroad connecting Des Moines with St. Joseph and Kansas City in Missouri. The other two railroad lines in Ringgold County were branch lines and were inferior to the Chicago Great Western.
It was known in 1885 that a line would be built from Des Moines to St. Joe, putting all the towns in that path in a tizzy. Surveying must have been completed by fall 1886 because the Ringgold Record, March 31, 1887, states the depot location for Indianville (Knowlton’s original name) had been secured. The land had been purchased from C. W. Codington in the north central part of section 32, Jefferson Township. The article also gave credit to B. F. Ruby as having the first house in the new town. Today, this site is one mile north and slightly east of Diagonal.
The town of Goshen, on the Keokuk & Western Railroad, was about two and a half miles southwest of Knowlton. Goshen was just over a mile west of the new railroad but experienced a boom as the railroad workers and bosses spent much time at the restaurant and hotel. The newspaper says the Knowlton depot was completed by December 1887.
The C., St. P., & K. C. began regular train service in 1888 but I didn’t find much info about Knowlton in 1888. In June 1889 we see the appearance of Knowlton’s first newspaper; The Knowlton Star. Frank Mason started the paper and sold it to Jesse Monce in October 1889. Monce discontinued the newspaper in February 1890.
Another thing I learned a little late is that Knowlton was platted by a town company. The Twice-A-Week News of March 24, 1896 says, “P. M. Clark of St. Paul, owner of the town plat, was here Friday making arrangements for building a number of cottages.” Four cottages were built that summer. Another newspaper calls Clark “an agent for the Chicago Great Western.”
In April 1895, Clark offered to build a two-story brick building in Knowlton if the city leaders would do the same. In April 1895, D. Klingensmith hired J. E. Nason to build a two-story brick block which would house a bank on the ground floor and have the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall on the top floor. And it was built. Mr. Nason was the manager of the Northern Building Co., the same firm that built the new Mount Ayr High School in 1895.
Knowlton built a two-story brick hotel in the summer of 1896. One newspaper article said the new, brick hotel would replace the Knowlton House hotel. Over the years, the hotel had a multitude of managers and was often without a landlord. In February 1909, the hotel was purchased by Bailey & Grant of Diagonal. Presumably for salvage.
On December 31, 1908, the Ideal Manufacturing Co., the Knowlton foundry, burned to the ground. This was a very important business to the Knowlton community and it was not rebuilt.
Knowlton forfeited its incorporated status in 1926. Gone but not forgotten.

Posted in Snapshot of History by Mike Avitt