In the early 20th Century, towns would publish postcards of the most esteemed businesses and sights in the community. One of the sights in Oskaloosa, Iowa was the Elmhurst Country Club. Established in 1928, the Elmhurst Country Club was an…
This was a photograph taken of a Gaar Scott Threshing Machine owned by Frank Harris in Beacon, IA, in 1901. The threshing machine was a mechanism designed to help farmers separate wheat grain from their stalks. The original threshing machine was…
In this photograph poses an unknown non-commissioned Union soldier from Mahaska County, Iowa. Taken around 1861, the Civil War was the first American War in which much of the conflict was documented through photography. Officers and…
Pictured on the right of this image is Walter L. McQuiston posing inside his establishment; the McQuiston Grocery Store, around the year 1900. The store was located at 207-209 High Avenue West. The pose in this image was intended to display the…
Pictured here is the group of employees that helped run the Iowa Dress Club in downtown Oskaloosa, Iowa, circa 1900. The store was located at 303 A Avenue East and the store specialized in dry cleaning and the sale of wedding dresses and other forms…
This image depicts one of the earliest banks formed in Mahaska County; the First National Bank. The bank was situated in downtown Oskaloosa on Market Street.
Fashion is an ever-evolving concept that makes others ponder over why people wore certain clothes or adopted a certain clothing style during a particular time era, especially in the United States. This image depicts the style worn by women in the…
This was a photograph taken around 1940 of the Oskaloosa town square along with the many businesses that encompass it at nighttime in the winter. Note the blanket of snow that covers the ground allowing the lights to illuminate the entire scene with…
This is an image of a windmill/windpump in the middle of a corn field in Oskaloosa, Iowa, circa 1930. The windpump was designed by Daniel Halladay in 1854 in order to transfer water from farm wells to cattle. At its high point, 600,000 windpumps…
This is an image taken of students in the Oskaloosa High School library around 1940. By the traditional standards of the early 21st Century, libraries in the early 20th Century were very small and had little room, giving reason to the notion of…
