BY MIKE AVITT Hopefully, you’re familiar with a shop in Chariton, Iowa called Piper’s Candy Store. They have home-made candies and doughnuts, but also groceries. The store still has hardwood floors and wooden shelving. Vintage food and soap packaging is on display throughout the store. This week, we’ll look at Mount Ayr’s connection to the…
Read MoreBY MIKE AVITT I see where Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds recently had supper at Rumors in Mount Ayr. While she was dining in Mount Ayr, I was dining in Des Moines. About 6 weeks ago, I met a man named Butch and he gave me Des Moines restaurant memorabilia like matchbooks, coasters, and swizzle sticks.…
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BY MIKE AVITT Posing for the picture are (left to right): Frank Sheldon, Zella Campbell, Bernice Moore, and Clare Allyn. Zella married Roy Swartz on May 6, 1925 and Bernice married John (Clem) Sheil on November 10, 1928. Frank Sheldon was president of the Mount Ayr State Bank when this photo was taken. He had…
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BY MIKE AVITT I’ve waited many years to get an early photo of Mount Ayr’s roller rink and here it is. Thanks to Linda Swanson for this week’s picture. In 1931, Fay Bryant built the…
Read MoreBY MIKE AVITT A friend was asking me about the commemorative blocks placed in the sidewalks, around the Mount Ayr square. The blocks are etched with the names of towns, communities, and post offices, and the year they were established. There are about 44 of them. My friend didn’t understand that some of these post…
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BY MIKE AVITT We all have our “favorite” blizzard or winter, but this week we’ll look at a winter very few, if any, remember – the winter of 1936. The Mount Ayr Record-News began reporting on Ringgold County’s worst winter on January 23, 1936. Nearly all of the county roads were blocked by the latest…
Read MoreBY MIKE AVITT I found some very early information about Ringgold County’s only main line railroad, the Chicago Great Western. This week’s picture shows a typical CGW depot. The Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad was reorganized as the Chicago, St. Paul, & Kansas City Railroad on June 1, 1886. The C,St.P,&,KC soon purchased the Wisconsin, Iowa,…
Read MoreBY MIKE AVITT The REC building is located at 1502 W. South Street in Mount Ayr. But, I just learned, the current name of the outfit is Southwest Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative. This building was erected in 1975-76 by Roe Implement. Two events took place in 1945 that resulted in a business boom for Ringgold…
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BY MIKE AVITT I got a request from Richard Hogue of Colorado. He is writing a book about his genealogy and I want to share his Ringgold County connection. Richard’s father was Charles Hogue who graduated from Kellerton High School in 1927. Charles went to work near Schaller, Iowa after high school and spent the…
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BY MIKE AVITT I took this week’s photo in April 2005 and it appears the old telephone office was vacant at this time. Let’s look at some of Mount Ayr’s telephone history. I find it remarkable that telephone service in Mount Ayr, which began in 1895, came so far ahead of things like electricity (1909)…
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