Earlier this week a friend Larry P. dropped of this newspaper clipping from about 1937. As you can see, it talks about a house that once served as a hotel on Old Military Road. Digging for clues puts me in mind of digging for gold. You never know where you are going to hit “pay dirt”. The more people who are aware of what we’re doing the better. So, this post is a shameless plug to say to you the reader…if you have ANY INFORMATION about Historical Eastern Iowa…specifically Old Military Road or the towns along the route (Dubuque, Cascade, Bowens Prairie, Monticello, Langworthy, Anamosa, Fairview, Martelle, Mount Vernon, Solon, Iowa City), old books, specific people or events, drop me a comment on the blog . Don’t assume I don’t know something…Sure I’ve done some reading, and sure I have purchased a few volumes of local history, but there has got to be a lot more information out there, that people know, (and I have yet to hear about)…and in the end, this is really a combined effort of many people who have an interest in preserving the past, specifically as it relates to Eastern Iowa from 1835-1935. After my “walkabout” the Fall of 2008, I do intend to write a book, with the goal of writing something filled with interesting accounts from days gone by, plus a portion on today (what’s left of Old Military Road, etc.) Here is a copy of that newspaper clipping:
And if you happen to have any old newspaper clippings or photo’s you would be willing to e-mail me so much the better…Drop me a comment on the blog. I check my blog comments daily. Sincerely, Douglas M.
Doug,
This house still exists on the farm directly east of Monticello on what used to be the gravel that went past the sewage treatment plant. (The road is the eastern portion of First Street Monticello). It sat where the Mathiessen DX station was that now belongs to Nick Sauser. There was another hostelry at the village of Richland, where we excavated the small brick Church/school house. There was two there from what I understand, one was a house on the north side of the road, we were going to excavate it, but it had been burned and bull dozed, it still had raw sewage from a septic system in the ground so for health and safety reasons we abandoned the excavation. I believe there was another hostelry on the south side of the road, but exact where abouts are unknown. If you are looking for others who inhabitated the Bowen’s Prairie “district” you should try the protestant cemetery in Cascade. You will find lots of interesting folks who lived and traveled the Military road. Recently the stage stop in Fairview finally fell in enough someone decided it was time to burn the remains so it is gone now as well. It was situated south of the Rainbow Inn as you started to come up the rise on your immediate left, just past the small pasture.