This is a view of the 200 block of North Market Street in 1887. Not many business or stores would be found on this block in Oskaloosa in the 19th Century and has continued to stay that way. By and large, the 200 block of North Market Street serves…
Completed in 1897, the second Oskaloosa High School was located at the corner of B Avenue and North First Street, which was only two blocks from the town square. The new high school was built on a bond valued at $30,000. Later, the high school was…
This photograph of a 1915 Ford Model T stuck in the middle of a flood in New Sharon, Iowa, depicts how vulnerable people are to the forces of nature. Even with advanced sewage systems and technology today, people just cannot compete with mother…
Dating from around 1900, this is a shot of a general store with its staff taking a moment to pose for the camera. General stores were very common in the early 1900's in rural communities like Oskaloosa, Iowa. In the center of the photograph is a…
When a stagecoach came through your town in the late 1800's it could have meant several things. First, the stagecoach might have been carrying a family on its way to settling down in the community or just to stop in the middle of their journey east…
This 1900 photograph taken of Oskaloosa, Iowa's famous town square and Mahaska County Courthouse from 1st Avenue East captures the organization and layout of Midwest towns of the period. Space was set aside at the town square so that horses and…
This is a picture taken at the A.M. Ellis Coal Mine in 1926. 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.
