Snapshot of History by Mike Avitt

Diagonal’s first school building was believed to have been built in 1892. Previously, Washington Township No. 3 was used as Diagonal’s school. This week we’ll look at the first year of Diagonal’s existence – 1889. In late 1887, the Chicago, St. Paul, & Kansas City Railroad laid its tracks through Ringgold County creating the towns…

By Mike Avitt This week’s picture shows the Chicago Burlington & Quincy depot looking north. In the background to the right, a couple of houses can be seen and those houses are in the original town of Redding. I also find it very interesting that the railroad put the depot between Old Redding and New…

This week’s picture comes from a postcard with a caption that reads, “4069A Christian Church, Ellston, Iowa.” My experience with these types of postcards tells me this card is from the years 1910-1912. We can clearly see a house to the left of the church. The Evangelical Church in Wirt (Wirt became Ellston on January…

By Mike Avitt Bob and Kay Sickels took this week’s picture in 1992, prior to the restoration process. The depot was restored and opened as a museum in 2000. The Burlington Northern Railroad officially closed the 19.7 miles of line from Lamoni to Mount Ayr on April 8, 1976. It is likely rail service ceased…

I recently posted a picture of the Mount Ayr depot on Facebook and someone asked when the last train left Mount Ayr. Two gentlemen responded that it was 1965 or earlier. I say it was spring 1977. Let’s see who is right. When the railroad came to Mount Ayr in 1879, it was called the…

By Mike Avitt Delphos was established in 1880 with the coming of the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad. Delphos never had a newspaper and was the only incorporated town in Ringgold County to never have a bank. Delphos started small and stayed small. And, yet, it has a big history. The first church here was…

Did you ever lie awake at night wondering how many “chain” restaurants Mount Ayr has had? Yeah, me too. Today, we’ll look at number 3 in the order….Breadeaux Pisa. I took this week’s photo in November of 2006, the month Breadeaux moved from its original building. I wanted to get the sign in the photo,…

I don’t have the complete history of this restaurant but I have most. This week’s picture was taken by me on March 26, 2013. Keith Rogers built the Dog’N’Suds drive-in at 904 E. South Street in Mount Ayr in 1965. Keith also built the Fina Station and car wash to the east in the same…

By Mike Avitt Mount Ayr’s first brick school building was erected in 1875 at a cost of $6,950 and was located where the other high school buildings followed. The contractor hired for this historic job was Lyman Forgrave of Leon, who was well-known as the builder of the Decatur County Courthouse in Leon. The school…