This is a photgraph taken of Colonel James F. McNeill of Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1906. Colonel McNeill served on an elite team of men that was put to the task of guarding the body/tomb of President Abraham Lincoln after an attempt of stealing his…
Pictured here is the Penn College basketball team from the 1920's. Basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in December of 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts. It did not take long for the sport to catch on and spread west across the United…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
Pictured here is the construction of the livestock pavilion at the Southern Iowa Fair in Oskaloosa, Iowa in 1917. The livestock pavilion was designed and built by building contractor P.W. Sparks. The pavilion was eventually finished by 1919. The…
Pictured here is the Oskaloosa City Hall as it appeared around the year 1920. The building was originally finished in 1912. The building still stands in its original location today, but has been renovated as time has passed. Note the various…
