Chicago & North Western Diner-Lounge Car Added to

It was two years in the works, but thanks to the efforts of many individuals a 1949 C&NW diner-lounge car is in place on the grounds of the Society’s RailsWest Museum. The car was donat-ed to the Society by railroad enthusiast, Gerald Kopiasz. Mr. Kopiasz, a customer service man-ager for Union Pacific, bought the car a few years ago and felt RailsWest would make a great home for it where it could be enjoyed by many. The car has been stored in the rail yard of the Iowa Interstate Railroad and was relocated to Rails-West by Scrib’s Moving and Heavy Hauling; the Society raised $10,000 to fund the move. HSPC Museums Coordinator Carla Borgaila explained the car has been outdoors for years and will need much restoration. Plans include refurbishing the kitchen so that the car can be used as a novel meeting site for various groups to get together, kids’ birthday parties, and so forth. HSPC presi-dent Mariel Wagner encouraged members at the

Member Journal January/February 2015

The Historical Society of

Pottawattamie County thanks

our corporate members:

Frontier Savings Bankwww.frontiersb.com

HGM Associates Inc.www.hgmonline.com

Mcginn Law Firmmcginnlawfirm.com

Red Giant Oil Companywww.redgiantoil.com

Richard Warner, DDS, PCwww.WarnerFamilyDentistry.com

recent annual banquet to volunteer to help with the cleanup; this is a project everyone can get in-volved with and take pride in when it is finished. Over the years the Society has been the most vi-brant when there is a specific project that needs to be done, from raising money to buy the Dodge House over fifty years ago to saving and restor-ing the “Squirrel Cage” jail and Rock Island depot more recently. Bringing the newly added car into good repair may prove to be another such project.

Spring Speakers Series kicks off February 15 with

program by Ryan Roenfeld. See the details on page 3.

(Photos by Carla Borgaila)

Chicago & North Western Diner-Lounge Car Added to RailsWest Rolling Stock Exhibit

Can something made of two rail cars of concrete disappear?

The maps called it Mount Graham. To locals, the twin 165 foot towers of radio station KOIL, perched near the highest elevation in the city, conferred a more descriptive name-- KOIL point. Historian and HSPC member Mary Lou McGinn chronicled the history of KOIL in an article published in The Daily Nonpareil January 4. KOIL was created in 1925 as the city’s first radio station (the second in the metro area, following WOW Omaha) to promote the products of the Mona Motor Oil Company. Programming was live, and a splendid studio was built “on the private property of Harry A. Searle, head of the Monarch Manufacturing Company, north of Fairmount Park.” The location was chosen intentionally to be “high above the city and remote from the power and street railway wires.” Metallic building materials were avoided because “large steel buildings

in which many radio stations are located are said to absorb as much as 45 percent of the station’s power, leaving only 55 percent of the strength for which the outfit was constructed to send the music over the air.”

Programming had transitioned to Omaha by the mid 1930s. The building remains; as reported in Ms. McGinn’s recent article; it now houses five apartments, and on the outside looks much the same as it did in 1925.

But what of the towers? The transmitter was moved to the South Omaha Bridge Road in 1937. Towers can be removed but concrete is more of a challenge. According to newspaper articles at the time construction of the towers began June 1, 1925, and they were 300 feet apart and 165 feet tall. “The footings for the antennae towers are of reinforced concrete in order to withstand the great leverage occasioned by the high winds which in certain seasons sweep the bluffs and for loads of sleet and ice in winter. Concrete piers fourteen feet in the ground form the anchorage, which is said by the engineers who constructed the station to be necessary to stand the winds and sleet. Two car loads of material went into this anchorage scheme.”

In her Nonpareil article Mary Lou McGinn asked readers if they knew of any traces of the (Left) The only two photos of the towers we find are unfortu-nately of poor quality; the upper is from a KOIL promotional booklet, the lower from The Daily Nonpareil, May 9, 1928.

2 January/February 2015 Historical Society of Pottawattamie County

The Hunt For the Towers

towers that linger today, and was it just the overlook that was known as KOIL point or the entire bluff? So far responses have been encouraging. A man who walks his dog in the park reported seeing a concrete pad almost at the top of the hill from the Graham Avenue park entrance; he says it appears as something was bolted into it. Another reader recalls the towers being “200 yards back up the road where the carillon is today.” A reader wrote that he has a concrete base in his yard next to the Huntington property, but it is much smaller than the one found in the park in the underbrush. Dr. Bill Braymen, Society member and owner of the old KOIL building, says he knows of no foundations within the current lot lines of the former studio building. Ideas? Do you know of any old photos or have recollections that might help? Join in the hunt!

“Hunt For the Towers,” continued... KOIL-- A TrendsetterKOIL has claimed a

number of firsts during its time. It was not only Coun-cil Bluff’s first radio station, it was the first station in the nation to be housed in a building specifically built to be a radio station, a significant mat-ter for acoustics in a day when musicians and actors appeared live, and for technical mat-ters. Its central location made it one of the few stations that could literally be received coast to coast, and one of only five stations in the country to simulcast on shortwave to enable programming to be heard around the world and by ships at sea. In the 1950s KOIL claimed to be “the first successful Top 40 sta-tion in the nation” after having borrowed the new and tremendously successful format from low powered, daytime only station KOWH.

KOIL scored one more first in 1976 it would have likely rather not have. Its license was revoked in the most severe action ever taken by the Federal Communications Com-mission against a radio license holder.

Associated Press teletype announcement of KOIL and its sister station going off the air.

Story by Richard Warner. Dr. Warner is editor of the Society’s “Member Journal.”

Tin Horn Gamblers and Dirty Prostitutes: Vice in 19th Century Council Bluffs The California Gold Rush turned Mormon Kanesville upside down, bringing a sinful spin to life in the early days of Council Bluffs. Sunday, February 15, historian and author Ryan Roenfeld will explore these intriguing years with a presentation at The Bluffs Center (“senior center”), 714 South Main Street in Council Bluffs at 2 pm. All Western towns had their share of vice; Mr. Roenfeld will explain the circumstances that al-lowed Council Bluffs to rise to the leader of the

pack in that regard, and become, as one early trav-eler noted, “the poorest meanest dirty hole I ever saw.” He will also explain why public officials not only didn’t close down the illegal enterpris-es but actually encouraged them. Mr. Roenfeld is an entertaining presenter and one of the most knowledgeable historians about this little known time in the city’s history; this is not a program you will want to miss. The program is free and open to the public; members are encouraged to bring guests.

Post your comments to the Society’s general interest Facebook page, Council Bluffs Revealed, or e-mail info@

TheHistoricalSociety.org. Comments and ideas are always welcome by postal mail as well at HSPC, P.O. Box 2 in Council Bluffs. If you missed Mary Lou McGinn’s

story about the history of KOIL go to nonpareilonline.com and type “KOIL” in the search box.


As It Was...

(Above) The City Roller Mill was erected by John Baldwin and General Dodge to grind flour along Indian

Creek at the intersection of Washington, Bryant, and North Main.

(Left) From 1937 through the mid 1960s KOIL’s trans-mitters were located on South Omaha Bridge Road. The upper left drawing is the proposed design; the second story wasn’t actually built. The building is a church

today.

(Below) Kanesville Boulevard was cut through to East Broadway in the 1980s. Note St. Bernard’s Hospital

and Mercy Hospital in the background.


Woolworth’s at Forth Street and West Broadway was bustling with shoppers in the 1950s photo at left, but was quiet and

vacant as it awaited demolition in the 1973 photo below. Frank Winfield Woolworth was a pioneer of the five-and-dime genre when he opened his first store in Utica,

New York in 1878. By mid 20th Century F.W. Woolworth had grown to be one of the largest retail chains in the world. HSPC member Robert Warner, Sr. recalls when

he got homesick overseas in World War II he sought out the nearest Woolworth store to visit and remind himself of home. The

company opened single floor discount stores under the name Woolco the same year S.S.Kresge opened KMart and Sam

Walton created Wal-Mart. The last stores operating in the United States under the

Woolworth name closed in 1997.

West Broadway has no shortage of traffic, even fifty-five years ago. This 1959 photo is at 40th and West Broadway, facing east. The eastern end of the Playland Park roller coaster would be to the left of the picture.

(Left) A very muddy West Broadway in 1923.

Trading Stamps--

The Frugal

Housewife’s

FriendThey were sticky little coupons that housewives of the

50s and 60s just couldn’t get enough of. The stamps were a way to get the silverware, small appliances, jewelry and gadgets housewives wanted but were too practical to buy, but it was OK to be a bit extravagant in redeem-ing the stamps-- those dream items were now theirs for free.

The stamps began in the 1890s as a way to reward customers who paid cash. The golden age arrived in the 1950s after a Denver super market chain began giving S&H Green Stamps. Other grocers followed; those who initially resisted like Safeway and A&P were almost destroyed until they too joined the move-ment. Chain gasoline stations signed on to the revolution as well.

In Council Bluffs the Hinky Dinky stores led the stamp innovation. Hinky Dinky was founded in Oma-ha by brothers Jule, Henry, and Albert Newman along with cousin Ben Silver. National chain Kroger’s embarked on a plan to create their own trading stamp rather than have to dilute profits by contracting with a third party like Sperry and Hutchinson, which operated S&H Green Stamps. To help offset the costs of developing such an operation they invited a dozen non-competing regional chains, like Hinky Dinky, to participate in their new Top Value stamps.

Safeway president Lingen Warren continued to resist the stamps. He was finally ousted as president and the stores began giving Gold Bond stamps.

The Bluffs redemption center for Top Value couldn’t have had a better location; at 220 West Broadway it was directly across the street from Hinky Dinky. Gold Bond savers could trade their stamps for goods at 25 North Main.

Neil Shaver almost single handedly brought the era of grocery store trading stamps to an end in Council Bluffs and Omaha. Shaver, son of the founder of Shavers Food Stores, was an excellent amateur actor and used his talent to challenge the stamp mentality. Shavers sponsored late night movies on local television, and Neil Shaver developed a following as the personality who introduced them. He used the rapport he earned with viewers to explain how much the stamps cost the stores, and how Shavers, by not giving stamps, could undersell the stamp stores on all items, not just a hand full of loss leaders.

Gasoline chains continued to be strong stamp backers, particularly for S&H. This came to an end in May, 1973. An oil embargo made gasoline difficult to obtain. Stations that didn’t have it couldn’t make

sales, stamps or not; the stations that did have gas had customers lined up from blocks. Incentives were no longer needed, and stamps, along with free maps and window washing attendants, largely vanished from the landscape.

(Left) Hinky Dinky supermarket in part of the old Woodward Candy factory building at West Broadway and

Glen. The name was taken from the World War I song “Hinky Dinky Parlez Voo” in an attempt to find a novel

and memorable name as had been done by national chain Piggly Wiggly. The imitation wasn’t lost on the latter, who unsuccessfully sued Hinky Dinky for patent infringement in 1929. Cullen Companies of Dallas purchased the regional chain in 1972 and closed the Council Bluffs stores in 1985.

Valentines Day, 1946 was a quiet Thursday morn-ing -- until it was abruptly thrown into chaos on a cold Bluff’s hilltop. The legs of a city water tower buckled and collapsed, sending 125,000 gallons of water and 500 hundred pound ice chunks cascading onto the Charles Street neighborhood.

The George Buhrman home at 109 Charles Street was instantly demolished, killing two children, 3 year old Rebecca Ann Cade and 4 month old Judith Ann Schott. The mothers of the two girls, sisters Alice Cade and Helen Schott, were hospitalized with head and other injuries. Mrs. Schott was knocked from the kitchen to the basement by the wall of water. The Cade home at 107 Charles Street was also damaged; Mrs. Cade had just stepped from her back porch to go next door to get her daughter when she was caught by the avalanche of wreckage. Her other child was asleep in a crib at the Cade home and escaped injury.

Mrs. A.E. Downing was at her sewing machine at 104 Charles Street and described the noise as “like an airplane crashing.” She reported running outdoors and seeing “a horrible mess” with tree limbs and huge cakes of ice. Direct injuries were reported as far away as 122 Charles Street, where a chunk of ice broke through a front window and hit Mrs. Don G. Hughes as she laid in her bed asleep. The Schott automobile in the driveway was crushed and washed 100 feet into the street. The water ran into Madison Avenue and

South First Street to Broadway, depositing mud and ice, but causing no accidents.

The 100 foot water tower was built in 1915 but had been repaired and repainted just three years ear-lier, in 1943. The tank was supported by four steel standards, one of which buckled at it’s center, allowing the structure to fold over to the west. The top of the tank popped off, striking the Buhrman home. Despite the loss of the tower there was no disruption to the city’s water supply, with extra capacity being picked up from the Glen Avenue pumping station.

An initial inspection revealed no flaws with the metal of the tower nor any faulty maintenance on the part of the city water board. A subsequent study found “very wet and weak” soil underneath the con-crete footings of the tower, with moisture content between 25 and 30 percent down to a depth of 18 feet. This study suggested the weight of the tower on the footings weakened by the high moisture level caused the west supports to give way, initiating the collapse. The high moisture content was attributed to overflowing of the tower the previous summer and fall.

The water board opted not to rebuild the tower at that location. The Buhrman home at 109 Charles Street was a total loss. A new home was built on the site in 1948.

Council Bluffs’ Valentines Day Tragedy

The photo reproduced from a newspaper microfilm is difficult to see, but shows the collapsed tower at the right and the James Cade home at the left. All that remained of the George Buhrman home at 109 Charles Street is the pile of rubble in the center of the photo-

graph. (Photo from the Daily Nonpareil, February 15, 1946).


Has your membership lapsed?Check the label on this newsletter. The date at

the top is when your membership expires.You can renew with the blank on page 11.

Thanks for your continued support!

Story by Richard Warner. Dr. Warner is editor of the Society’s “Member Journal.”

John Baldwin is a name few recognize today despite the fact from 1853 until his death at age 70 in 1890 he was one of the most important of the “movers and shak-ers” in Council Bluffs.

He was born October 12, 1820 in Washington Coun-ty, Pennsylvania. Although his education was not of the typical liberal type, he was well ready, had a high I.Q., and was an excellent observer. He was both a great man and a large man as well, standing six feet four inches and weighing 300 pounds.

J.T. Baldwin’s brother, Caleb, was born in 1824. Un-like his other brother, Caleb had a good primary educa-tion and graduated from Washington College in Pennsyl-vania in 1842. After teaching in Paris, Kentucky one year he returned to Washington County to study law with the Hon. T.M.T. McKeenan. After being admitted to the bar in 1846 he joined his older brother in Fairfield, Iowa and practiced law. He became an Iowa Supreme Court Judge and later came to Council Bluffs, where he joined the Bloomer law firm, became associated with N.P. Dodge at the Baldwin and Dodge banking firm, and served as mayor in 1866.

At twenty-one, John T. Baldwin engaged in mercan-tile pursuits in Washington, Pennsylvania. He later mar-ried Miss Jane Hunter in August 1843. They had three daughters, including Anna.

Anna B. Baldwin married George T. Phelps. She, “in her own right, became closely identified with Coun-cil Bluffs in so varied and helpful a degree in social and philanthropic service for the betterment of society.” She was a member of the “Faith Band” group in 1884, which evolved into the Woman's Christian Association (WCA) and led to the development of their Cottage Hospital (1887), Council Bluffs General Hospital (1889), and the Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital (1907); the Creche, and the Associated Charities of Council Bluffs. She was a long time benefactor and resident of Council Bluffs.

In 1844 they moved near Fairfield in Jefferson Coun-ty, Iowa. He brought with him a large flock of sheep, which he drove overland. At one time while in business in that county, he had all his money invested in flatboat traffic on the Des Moines River. When the boat was wrecked it resulted in his financial ruination. He was

more than $5,000 in debt with no way to pay it off. He left that part of Iowa to begin over again. When he ar-rived in Council Bluffs, in 1853, “all he had in the world was his wife, children, household goods, plenty of pluck, nerve, energy, and business capacity-- and only $250 in his pocket, with which to begin again.”

Baldwin and his family initially lived in a log and frame house on Mad-ison Street (now South First Street)-- and are heavily infest-ed with rats. Indians were commonplace and would frequently peer into their home and request food. Once here, he re-sumed his mercantile pursuits. He became a city councilman in 1853. State elections were held in August under the old consti-tution. In 1854, John T. Baldwin was one of two elected to the state House of Representatives from this district. Luck had begun to turn for Mr. Baldwin.

In 1854, when Grenville M. Dodge and his bride, Ruth Anne (Brown), moved to the Bluffs, the Baldwins welcomed them into their home. In 1856 Dodge and Baldwin established a land agency here and also engaged in banking under the firm name of Baldwin and Dodge. This was to be the first of many successful ventures for the two.

Baldwin was described as a genial and agreeable companion in private and a warm and sincere friend. He always talked affectionately about his mother, wife, and children. His practical business experience together with his common sense and sound judgment allowed him to “comfortably mingle with men of affairs,” both in the state and in the nation. He become one of the leading and most influential men of Iowa. It was said the “he lived for Council Bluffs” and, in the words of one histor-ical writer in 1891, “no man could be more devoted to a city than he was to the city of Council Bluffs and no man who ever lived in the city did as much for it.”

John Baldwin-- The Forgotten Forefather


John T. Baldwin was a major player in the develop-ment of Council Bluffs. In 1853, as a city councilman, he helped organize the transition from Kanesville to Council Bluffs after the Mormons had moved west. He continued to be a civic leader for the next forty-seven years until his death in 1890.

In spite of his numerous contributions to this city, few even recognize his name. No monuments or evidenc-es of his contributions to our fair city remain. In 1880, Baldwin Street was renamed “Eighth Street.” A partial list of his various activities includes:

1). City Councilman in 1853, when the city was in-corporated; later served as Alderman and Mayor.

2). State legislator. Elected in 1854 as a republican representative in the state legislature without campaign-ing. In the late 1850s he served on the committee which was instrumental in moving the state capitol from Iowa City to Des Moines. The furniture and records were moved in the fall of 1857.

3). Established Baldwin & Dodge Bank and Land Agency. In the spring of 1856, with G.M. Dodge, he orga-nized and opened the Bank and Land office of Baldwin & Dodge on “Upper Broadway” at 128 West Broadway. He served as its first president. Dodge’s brother, Nathan P. Dodge, was cashier and became its president in 1860. In 1870, Nathan merged the banking interests with the new Council Bluffs Savings Bank and became its first presi-dent.

4). Established the City Roller Mill. In 1856, Baldwin and Dodge erect-ed the “City Roller Mill” for grinding flour.

5). Built a Brick Resi-dence. In the late 1850s he built a red brick resi-dence on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Willow Avenue, 130 South Sixth Street, where he was a neighbor of Samuel S. Bayliss. His residence was later owned and occupied by Attorney George S. Wright who maintained a beautiful garden with hundreds of tulips within the confines of a decorative iron fence. It was razed in the 1960s and is the site of the Masonic Temple building.

6). Established an Overland Freighting Service. This was also with Grenville M. Dodge.

7). Established a General Supply Store. With Gen-

eral Dodge, he owned a general store opposite the Ogden House on Broadway for the outfitting of the western mining camps. Their supplies were brought up river from St. Louis. There were important outfit-ters for emigrants to Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, and the western states. In an ad in 1866, they stat-ed that “three yokes of oxen may be bought for $75 a yoke, three yokes for $225. Two spans of horses or mules, double that sum.” They advised that “no party should leave the Missouri River the next spring without a supply sufficient to last them nine months” and that, “every party should take at least one good cow for milking.”

8). Established the Pacific National Bank. In 1889, Baldwin and General Dodge organized the Pa-cific National Bank, with Baldwin as a director and vice-president and Dodge as president. In 1878 they merged their bank with the interests of the Council Bluffs Savings Bank.

9). Established Council Bluffs Street Railway System. In 1869, Baldwin promoted and licensed a street railway service using mule cars to run from the Ogden House to the Chicago & North Western de-pot. In March 1877 he organized the Broadway Street Railway Company. As principal owner, he construct-ed and operated Council Bluffs first street railway. It served the Union Pacific Railroad and CB&Q depots as well as other portions of the city. The system was later purchased and converted to the first successful electrical tram system in the United States.

10). Donated 1,200 acres for the Rock Island De-pot at Oakland. In 1873, he purchased a large tract

of land, including the original site of Oak-land, Iowa, which was covered with a heavy growth of hardwood timber. He cut and sold ties to the Rock Island and donated the site for the Oak-land depot.

11). Rebuilt Og-den House. Upon its completion in 1869, the Ogden House became the leading hotel in Council Bluffs and remained so until it was destroyed by fire in 1874. Baldwin rebuilt it as the Ogden Hotel in 1876.

“Forgotten Forefather,” continued...

(Story by James L. Knott. Dr. Knott is an author, historian, and past board member of the Historical Society of

Pottawattamie County.)


In honor of Black History Month, the West-ern Trails Center will have on display the exhibit, “Iowa’s Underground Railroad”. The National Un-derground Railroad Network to Freedom Program (NTF) exhibit showcases Iowa sites that are recog-nized by the Program for their documented and ver-ifiable association with the Underground Railroad.

Dating back even before its statehood, Iowa played an important role in antislavery and Under-ground Railroad activities. Iowa, where slavery was prohibited, was a major refuge for freedom seekers attempting to escape the “peculiar institution”. In Iowa, freedom seekers, often traveling out of Mis-souri, Kansas, and Nebraska could count on indi-viduals and groups that were sympathetic to their plight and willing to break the law.

Included among the exhibit’s featured sites are the Hitchcock House (Lewis), John Todd House (Tabor), the James B. Jordan House (West Des Moines), and the Lewelling-Gibbs House (Salem), all of which are operated as museums and are open to the public. So after viewing the exhibit, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to check out these important historic sites in person. The exhibit will be on display through February 28, 2015.

The NTF, established by legislation passed in 1998, promotes the preservation, education, and interpretation of resources associated with the Underground Railroad. There are currently over 500 listings recognized by the NTF in 30 states.

and Washington D.C.

Presentation on Recent Research on the Underground Railroad in

Iowa at the Western Historic Trails Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa on

February 20, 2015 at 1:00 PM

Douglas W. Jones (Iowa Freedom Trail Project, State Historical Society of Iowa) will explore and discuss the results of the Iowa Freedom Trail Grant Project conducted by the State Historical Society of Iowa from 2002 through 2013.

This project documented Underground Railroad activities throughout Iowa by identifying individu-als and groups who were involved with these ac-tivities and the places where these events occurred in Iowa. The intent of the project was to increase public awareness of this history and these places by revealing and presenting the story of Underground Railroad and antislavery activities in Iowa. A brief overview of the results of the project and current activities going on since the end of the grant project will also be presented.

This event is Free and open to the public.

Black History Month Display at Trails Center

Idea for Big Lake Fountain Borrowed from Wisconsin

When Council Bluffs park commissioner Ru-dolph Walter visited Camp Brosius in Wisconsin he came across a rustic spring in the words with lines from Longfellow printed above. He so impressed he had the WPA build a fountain for a spring in Big Lake park with those same words inscribed. The fountain was dedicated in 1939. Though it still ex-ists today along the Union Pacific tracks the water was deemed unsafe in January 1960 and water flow was cut off. Water for the fountain was obtained from sever-al sand point siphons and routed to a collection box where it flowed by gravity into the park. Longfellow’s lines read, “O Traveler, stay thy weary feet, Drink of this fountain, pure and sweet; it flows for rich and poor the same. Then go thy way, remembering still the wayside well beneath the hill, the cup of water in His name.”

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Inside...

Grenville Dodge. Now that’s a name that’s instantly recognized in Council Bluffs. John Baldwin? Not so much. Despite the lack of familiarity Mr. Baldwin did more for the town than just about anybody. Learn more about John Baldwin on page 8.

Was your family Gold Bond, Top Val-ue, or S&H? Nothing created store loy-alty like trading stamps. Get enough of those sticky little coupons and you could get just about anything you wanted at the redemption center... for free! See the story on page 6.

We’ve all passed the rock fountain by the Union Pa-cific tracks at Big Lake park. The WPA’s handiwork still stands but water stopped flowing 55 years ago this month. Catch the details on page 10

Documents

Chicago & North Western Diner-Lounge Car Added to