Gathering Outside the Oskaloosa Town Square, Late 1800's; Mahaska County; Iowa

Gathering Outside the Oskaloosa Town Square, Late 1800's; Mahaska County; Iowa

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 for a number of reasons. Perhaps a new medicine was on the market that the local druggist was promoting for his patrons or potential patrons? Maybe the crowd was gathering to welcome home a person that had been out of the community for a considerable amount of time? In late 19th Century American Society, it would have been common to see crowds gathering for these particular reasons, because the citizens in the community had a vested interest in each other and their well-being, which reverts back to why it was very valuable for communities like Oskaloosa to have a town square as a setting for this type of comradery.

Chuck Russell

Chuck Russell

Chuck Russell

"2009-03-08"

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