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…
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month of 1918, the Allies successfully signed an armistice agreement with Germany in Rethondes, France. Aside from huge celebration for this occasion across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East,…
This image captures children riding their bikes through the downtown square in Oskaloosa, Iowa, around 1915. The streets have brick pavement in this photograph, but there are no automobiles present, illustrating the fact that few residents in…
This statue of Chief Mahaska of the Ioway Nation, for which the County of Mahaska was named, was dedicated to the City of Oskaloosa in 1909 at the famous town square. Oskaloosa is the county seat for Mahaska County, so it is very fitting that a…
For over a century, the Conestoga wagon helped shape American culture and American transportation. In a sense, the Conestoga wagon was the transportation symbol of the United States' concept of Manifest Destiny. Able to carry families and supplies…
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…
The town square has been a place of social importance in American history, especially in small towns like Oskaloosa, Iowa, depicted in this photograph. Taken in the late 1800's, the crowd gathering outside the town square could have been doing so…
The north half of the east side of Oskaloosa's town square as it appeared in 1868. Notice how roads were not yet paved and wouldn't become paved for almost another 30 years.
The north half of the east side of Oskaloosa's town square as it appeared in 1942. By this point, roads had been paved and the Mahaska County courthouse had taken the place of the once established grocery and clothing stores.
The north side of Oskaloosa's town square as it appeared in 1868. The park stood on the inside of the white fence line, but it was not for some time that the bandstand/gazebo was in existence.
