CHAPTER III. Cont.

The Beginning of Dallas Center

(5 pages total [6-10] - link for next page at bottom of each page)

  

          The first train came through the village of Dallas Center on July 19, 1869.

          The first station agent was C. S. Kirtland.

          The birth in town was a child of B. F. Huber in 1869.

          The first business building was erected by Percival & Hatton as a real estate office were Citizens Bank now stands.

          The first church services were held in the first depot by various denominations, before a church house was built.

          The first church was built by the Presbyterian group in 1871, the church have been organized in 1869.

          The first union Thanksgiving service to beheld in a church in Dallas Center was held in November, 1871, in the Presbyterian church which was not yet completed.  The plastering had not been done, plank seats were used and coats were a necessity.

          The first mayor was F. Hubbard.

          The first town council included O. R. Woodward,  J. S. Easton,  J. F. McGrath,  J. W. Humphries,  E. J. M. Stevens and J. L. Loring, with J. I. Kramer as clerk.

          The first postmaster was David Smart.

          The first post office, at 1419 Walnut, was built by Percival & hatton in the triangular block west of the depot and moved to the later location.

          The first druggists were Stouffer and Puterbaugh.

          The first dray man was John Cramer.

          The first doctor of medicine was Dr. J. B. Brenton, serving from 1853 to 1891.  Dr. B. H. Criley came in 1871, and served 43 years until 1914.

          The first cemetery, presently the Brethren Cemetery, was laid out on the Samuel Strayer farm, one and one-half miles east of town, by J. L. Loring in 1871.

          The first hotel, Dallas Center House, was built by Wm. T. Allen in 1870, north of the depot.

          The first boarding house was operated by George Brown who came in 1870, and resided in the Huber house and took in boarders.

          The first lumber yard was opened by J. M. Hoopes in 1870.

          The first millers were Gish and Riggs who built a large mill east of the railroad tracks in 1870.

          The first fraternal order was the Dallas Center Lodge No. 248,  I.O.O.F. organized in 1872.

          The first school building, a two-story, red brick structure, was built in 1874.

          The first bank was opened by O. Mosher and W. D. Kridler in 1875.

          The first newspaper, the Dallas Center Mail was published briefly by J. W. Jones in 1875.  The Dallas Center Globe, published by Sam G. Sloane, was established in December of the same year.

          The first painter to adorn our town as Orange Post, formerly of Pella.

          The first elevator was operated by Schamel and Loughran in 1876.          


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Page #10 of Chapter III.

 

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