This is a picture taken at the A.M. Ellis Coal Mine in 1930. Today, the Oskaloosa golf course is located there. By this point, coal mining was just becoming more modernized, but was and still is a dangerous occupation. Note the equipment being…
This is a map laying out the township of Adams in Mahaska County, Iowa. The map was most likely compiled in 1936 at the time when all of Mahaska County, Iowa was compiled. The most notable communities of Adams township around this time (1936) were…
This is an aerial photograph taken of the town of Oskaloosa, Iowa, around the year 1940. The image shows the downtown of the community in the center of the photograph, along with the many residencies of the community spreading out from the center. …
African-Americans played a very serious role in Mahaska County, Iowa history. From its early inception, African-Americans have participated in major events that determined the prosperity of the county. When Mahaska County was a major coal extractor…
Agricola was a farm community that came about from the Latin word meaning "farmer" on January 27, 1855. Most of its residents, like most in Mahaska County, came from Ohio. When New Barnes, now called Barnes City, was founded, Agricola residents…