Poweshiek History Preservation Project

10/16/2025

The Poweshiek History Preservation Project (PHPP) is now fundamentally complete, and we are not accepting additional volunteers or materials.

This project was a collaboration between Drake Community Library and the Grinnell College Libraries to locate, digitize, and present the history of Poweshiek County online. The digital archive includes materials from community members, the Drake Community Library archives, and area historical museums.

Launched in 2013 with an ILEAD (Innovative Librarians Explore, Apply, and Discover) grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the project encouraged individuals and organizations to contribute historical photos, documents, and other materials; coordinated their digitization and data collection; and ultimately added the items to the Digital Grinnell archive hosted by Grinnell College.

10/17/2024

Announcement about PHPP

PHPP began over ten years ago as a collaboration between Drake Community Library and the Grinnell College Libraries. The aim of the project was to preserve the history of Poweshiek County by digitizing photographs from residents. The photographs were uploaded to the Digital Grinnell database and shared on social media through the PHPP page.

Due to staffing changes at the library, PHPP is pause for the time being and new donations will not be accepted at this time. Updates to the PHPP page will also be on pause.

The photographs DCL has collected through PHPP will remain available to view both in Digital Grinnell and on the PHPP page.

Library patrons are welcome to view the full collection of PHPP Community Contributions at: https://digital.grinnell.edu/islandora/object/grinnell:phpp-community

If you have questions about this pause, please contact Veronica Ruse, library assistant in charge of the Local History Archives at Drake Community Library. You can reach Veronica by email at [email protected] or by phone at 641-659-6929.

Photographs and documents related to the history of Poweshiek County contributed by individuals. Contributions from throughout the county are welcome and include the communities of Barnes City, Brooklyn, Deep River, Ewart, Grinnell, Guernsey, Hartwick, Malcom, Montezuma, Searsboro and Victor.

08/01/2024

Here's another image from the Newburg Glass Slide collection. Here is what Harley McIlrath found about this one:
"This is Harvey Breeden (standing) and, I think, his son, Jim Breeden (on the steam engine). I say Jim having compared this photo to other photos I’ve seen of him when he was older. I don’t have a picture of Perry Breeden, Jim’s brother, for comparison. I gave a brief biographical sketch of Harvey Breeden in describing a picture of a stream engine in the field threshing (004.jpg). Jim Breeden, according to Pioneers Past & Present, was born in 1891 and grew up on his father’s farm off the northeast edge of Newburg. He farmed with his father and did custom corn shelling and threshing. In 1926, Jim Breeden moved to a farm three miles north of Grinnell on Hwy 146. He served on the Newburg Elevator Board and served as President of the Newburg School Board for fifteen years. I sent a copy of this picture to the Old Threshers in Mount Pleasant asking what the piece of equipment on the middle set of running gear behind the steam engine is. Terry McWilliams responded, "One of my folks here at Old Threshers said it looks like a grain cleaner.” I wonder though, since the Breedens did custom corn shelling, if it might be a corn sheller rather than a grain cleaner."

I know there are still Breedens in the area. Chime in if you know if they are related!

07/25/2024

Here are a couple more of the Newburg glass plates with more wonderful insight provided by Harley McIlrath. He sent the following comments for the first photo ofthe two men next to the machine. In the last line, he mentions one of the others photos possibly being taken the next day so I included the one I think he means. (Correct me if I'm wrong Harley!)
"John Newcomer leaning against the barrel and Harvey Breeden running the steam engine. In the background, notice the train leaving Newburg headed south for Grinnell. Behind the train, you can see the tower of a wooden grain elevator, the railroad’s water tower, and, just behind the water tower, a second wooden grain elevator. The threshing is being done on the land west of Newburg, between the town and what is now highway T-38, which John Newcomer purchased from Anson Palmer in 1885. John Newcomer was born in Pennsylvania, and at the age of 16 was a member of the crowd that heard Abraham Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address. He came to Hickory Grove township in 1867. In 1879, he purchased two of the earliest lots sold in Newburg, one of which he gave for the site of the Church of God bethel. He also played a role in the founding of the Newburg Congregational Church, the Newburg Savings Bank, and the Newburg Farmers Elevator. The land for the Newburg school was purchased from him, and when the brick school building that still stands was built in 1925, John Newcomer was asked to lay the cornerstone. Harvey Breeden’s parents came to Hickory Grove township in 1856. He was born three years later, in 1859, and is possibly the first child of a settler born in Hickory Grove township. He was a farmer and owned a half-section just off the northeast corner of Newburg. According to Pioneers Past & Present, “He operated a threshing machine and later his sons, Jim and Perry, took over the business.” In 1908, John Newcomer’s son Charles married Harvey Breeden’s daughter, Grace. The other threshing picture in this collection likely was taken the same day and is of Harvey Breeden’s threshing machine."

07/24/2024

Another great photo from the Newburg glass slide collection. Here's what Harley has found on this one:

"I don’t have a picture to compare this to, but this is almost certainly George Alden in the Alden General Store. George Alden was the brother of Abi Alden Palmer and Vesta Alden Ryan. He purchased the store from Ed Fay in 1882, and lived above the store with his mother, Louisa Doty Alden Clifford, and sister, Vesta. His mother and sister operated the Newburg telephone exchange from those living quarters. Vesta married in 1902, and George married in 1904. In 1914, he sold the store (but not the building) to Dale Livingston and moved to Albion, Iowa, where he also operated a general store. Dale Livingston owned the business in Newburg and lived in the residence above it when the building burned in the 1915 fire that destroyed the west side of Clay Street. In 1916, Alden sold the lot to the Newburg Savings Bank. In 1922, George Alden retired from the store in Albion and moved with his wife and two children to Grinnell. The picture of the three Palmer boys was likely also taken in this store, as George Alden was their uncle."

07/23/2024

Harley McIlrath has been doing some excellent research into the glass slides of Newburg that we recently digitized. Here is what he found about this great photo. Feel free to chime in if you happen to have relevant insights or information.

"There is a copy of this picture in Verna Burroughs Paul’s “Newburg Book”. There is also a different picture of the event, the pole on its way up, in Verna’s scrapbook and in Pioneers Past & Present. That second picture is attributed to a glass negative taken by Vesta Alden Ryan. Vesta Alden Ryan was Abi Alden Palmer’s sister. Says the Grinnell Herald, “The citizens of Newburg and vicinity will erect a flag pole Saturday, May 7, at 3 o’clock p. m., followed by patriotic speeches by Rev. John Kramer and others. Reed’s Martial Band is expected to be present and assist in the program. All are invited.” That’s the May 6, 1898 edition. Notice, first of all, that there are no women in the picture. Notice, too, that the men in line are wearing ribbons. It could be the band, but there are no instruments. It could be the Knights of Pythias. They wore ribbons. Or it could be members of the GAR. I don’t know. The H.L. Lewis store was owned by Harmon Lewis, who did lots of things. He was a farmer, but also, for a time each, ran the store in Newburg, a store in Chester Center, a farm implement store in Newburg, etc. He purchased this store from his brother-in-law, S. A. Webster, in 1891, but in 1894, four years before this picture was taken, he sold at least the building to George McCarol, who was also a storekeeper in Newburg. Perhaps he didn’t change the signage. The building just north of Lewis’s is referred to by Verna Burroughs Paul as a “mystery building.” No one seems to remember what it was. In 1894, Isaiah Clay bought the building, and the 1900 census lists his occupation as “lumber merchant.” If it’s a lumber business, it’s a long way from the railroad tracks. In pictures of the 1915 fire that destroyed the west side of Clay Street, the Lewis building is still standing, but the “mystery building” is gone and has been replaced by a house."
---from Harley McIlrath

07/19/2024

Here's another of my favorites from the recently digitized glass plate slides that were labeled "Newburg". These three young chaps are dressed up for something and, especially with that expression on the front one, makes you wonder what kind of trouble they would get into together!

07/18/2024

These two wonderful images of bicyclers are from an exciting collection we have just digitized. A couple of years ago we received a box of glass plate slides that was marked "Newburg". As glass plates are not the standard for current scanners, it took some creative troubleshooting to make it work. But it was so worth the effort! There are 67 slides. Harley McIlrath, who has been doing a lot of research on the history of Newburg, has given them a look and confirmed that many of them are from Newburg and all seem to be related to the Anson Palmer family. We don't have the names of the people in these photos, but with it being peak bicycling season (RAGBRAI is next week) I thought it would be fun to share.

07/17/2024

This fabulous video promoting the athletic programs at Grinnell has recently come to my attention and I thought it should be shared here. We think it was created in the late 1940s. The first minute or so of the guy talking doesn't grab your attention, but keep watching and you'll see lots of shots of Darby Gym, Ward Field and the old stadium, and all sorts of other buildings that were on campus in that era. Plus it's just a timewarp look at the way men and women were treated and spoken about in terms of physical activity!

I'd love to see your comments about what you notice or enjoy most when watching it.

Post WWII Grinnell College Athletic Department promotional video

07/11/2024

We're finalizing things for the Connections exhibit at the Grinnell Area Arts Council. The opening reception will be tomorrow (Friday, July 12) from 4-6pm. We'll be marking Edith Renfrow Smith's 110th birthday with a photo booth (be a part of the birthday video we're making for her) and collecting or making cards. Come explore Grinnell's past and celebrate the intersection of history and art!

07/09/2024

This is a delightful article about Edith Renfrow Smith as she approaches her 110th birthday on July 14 (this coming Sunday).

Edith Renfrow Smith, Grinnell College class of '37, is a rare "supercentenarian." In the fall her alma mater is naming a new dorm after her.