BY MIKE AVITT This photo, which seems to have been taken in the 1950s, shows the Hanoco Oil Co. filling station and cottages on the west side of Highway 69, formerly the Jefferson Highway. The Jefferson Highway was the first transcontinental highway in the U. S. stretching from New Orleans, Louisiana to Winnipeg, Canada. The…

BY MIKE AVITT Last year, I wrote an article stating the post office building in Diagonal was built in 1919. That was my error; the Diagonal Post Office building was erected in 1925. The post office did move to the east side of Broadway Street in 1919, but not to the building in this week’s…

BY MIKE AVITT I talk to people often about Ringgold County history and there are a few businesses and buildings that very few people remember, even though they are somewhat recent. This church building is very near the top of that list. In March 1938 a house was torn down across the street east of…

BY MIKE AVITT Thanks to Lola Link for this week’s picture. We can see the school bell on a small tower to the right of the building. The sign below the bell says, “Walnut Valley – 1906 – Dist. No. 7.” Walnut Valley was in Section 25 of Washington Township. For those of you who…

BY MIKE AVITT In the early days of Mount Ayr, the town had multiple monument companies. One was operated by Ralph H. Stone who had several brief partners and was located on many sites until 1908. In that year he purchased the old Williams Hotel, dismantled the hotel, and built his new workshop on the…

BY MIKE AVITT I’m back after a wild week at Wildwood Hills Ranch. We have another aerial photo this week and I believe this picture was taken by Mabel McCullough Rice as she was an aviatrix and this was her property. Bob Sickels worked for Mabel in the early 1960s and he remembers the place…

by Mike Avitt I spent a week at a horse ranch/resort in rural Madison County and I felt compelled to share with you what I’ve learned and experienced. Wildwood Hills Ranch of Iowa was started in 2001 and is located four miles west of St. Charles, Iowa. It is a 470 acre, faith-based facility designed…

BY MIKE AVITT The Clinton Motel opened in June 1950. Mabel McCullough Rice built the lodging from military barracks she bought in Colorado and trucked them to Mount Ayr. Mabel was an attorney, aviatrix, world traveler, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. I have a partial list of the managers at the Clinton Motel (named after Clinton Rice,…

This is the second Methodist Church building in Tingley’s history. The congregation outgrew the first one, so this church was built in 1908 with Herbert Henry Dufty as the construction superintendent. Later, Mr. Dufty’s funeral would be held here. This is the material I’ve been looking for the last several weeks. Jenesse Tull pointed out…