This is a picture taken of activities going on at the northeast corner of the Oskaloosa town square looking west in 1868. Over the years, the town has been able to modify the town square into a center for town gatherings and entertainment.
This is a picture taken at the Old Excelsior Mine Shaft #2 back in 1886. The mine was located three miles south of Oskaloosa, Iowa, in Mahaska County. Today, many buildings and facilities in Oskaloosa were once the site of a coal mining operation. …
Religion has always played a very important role in Mahaska County, Iowa. One of the credits to the county has been its people's tolerance for others to worship freely without fear. This photograph shows the the old Methodist Church in Oskaloosa,…
Beacon, once known as the town of Enterprise, did not fully switch its name over until 1874. Beacon's success revolved around its coal mining connection and proximity to the railroad lines. Before Oskaloosa, the county seat of Mahaska County,…
Founded in 1886, the Oskaloosa Business College served as an extension of the Oskaloosa College campus on the other side of town by offering courses of study in Business, Shorthand, and Instrumental Music. W.L. Howe is responsible for the founding…
This is a commencement program that was distributed to guests attending the twenty-first graduation ceremony of Oskaloosa College's class of 1883. The program lists different speeches and musical performances throughout the morning and afternoon. …
Oskaloosa College, not to be confused with Penn College which is also located in Oskaloosa, was the first college to open in Mahaska County in 1861. George T. Carpenter served as Oskaloosa College's first president. The college was never…
Getting to a fire in the late 1800's meant two things; you had a wait on your hands and you probably wouldn't have much left by the time the fire department arrived at the scene. Still, the fire department in those days did everything it possibly…
Built in 1870, the old Oskaloosa High School consisted of eleven classrooms and housed 525 students. The first two floors held high school classes, but the third floor of the high school actually was the home of Jefferson Elementary School students.…
This is a photograph taken of the town square in Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1868, following the Civil War. This view of the square comes from the northeast looking west.
