IAGenWeb Project

Hamilton County IAGenWeb


Highview, Iowa - A Hamilton County Settlement

By Martin E. Nass

Transcribed for the IAGenWeb Project by Janelle Martin, with permission of Martin "Ed" Nass.

Highview - This settlement is located in SE Sec. 33-89-26. This place was named High Town by the railroad when the this siding was established. It was named for a family named High, who owned the land on which the siding was built. When the post office was established on Jan. 7, 1892, it was decided to change the name to Highview because some of the residents thought that Highview sounded better. By this time the High family had moved from the area. Some felt that as they stood on the tracks and looked east and then west that the rails were lower in both directions; thus they were at the high point. What they did not realize was that this optical illusion exists whenever the land is flat. Today, from the top of the elevators, one could certainly make a case for the name High View.

Solomon Snow was the first postmaster. His son, Ed Snow, had an unfortunate accident as a lad. He fell on the rails as a train came, thus losing both arms. He went on to become a well loved county superintendent of schools. He was able to drive his own Model T Ford by cranking it with his foot. His penmanship was excellent. He inserted a pen in his stub of an arm and could write better than most anyone in the area.

A 1918 map shows the Highview Methodist Church on the west part of the settlement along the highway to Eagle Grove. There was the post office, an elevator, a lumber yard, a store, a blacksmith shop, and a stock yard on the north side of the tracks. The depot was located on the south side. The highway ran south of the tracks in 1918 but was moved to the north side later.

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