Historic Iowa Postcards

Grinnell College Libraries' Historic Iowa Postcard Collection. A collection of postcards from 1900 through the middle of the 20th century, covering all parts of Iowa.

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Looking northwest at Main Street from Fourth Avenue with Spencer Building in foreground1908 postmark. Number 62.
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Looking west on Edgington Avenue with a barber pole in the foreground from right to left: the Hardin County State Bank established around 1890 and the Hillis Fannon Grocery Store located in lower level of the Masonic Temple building which was built around 1873. 1908 postmark. Series 2195.
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Looking southwest on corner of Fifth Avenue and Park Street. The Methodist Church was begun in 1895 and completed and dedicated in 1896. Richardsonian Romanesque in architectural styling. 1908 postmark. Number 156902.
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One-story wooden building with bell tower. 1908 postmark. Number 63.
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Looking west from Broad Street. Established in 1856, the glove factory was Grinnell's first industry which originally manufactured gauntlet gloves. The building now houses Grinnell College offices. 1908 postmark. Number 156891.
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The Newton High School was erected in 1907 at a cost of $72,000. It was built on the most modern and approved plans for school buildings, even to the items of sanitary drinking fountains. In 1957 high school grades 10-12 were moved to the new high school and the this building became part of the junior high campus. 1908 postmark.
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Looking north on Broad Street at residences. 1908 postmark.
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Reichard, The Druggist
The original seminary was founded by the city's founder, Thomas Mitchell, in 1872. It fell on hard times and was bought by the state of Iowa who turned it into a reformatory school for girls. In the early 1980's it was turned into the Iowa Correctional Institute for Women. 1908 postmark.
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Peet, Mrs. C.L. (Gilman, Iowa)
Two women and two children on a gazebo in a part in Gilman, Iowa. 1908 postmark.
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Looking east at the Doepke building built in 1881 with a man and his automobile out front. 1908 postmark.
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Looking southwest at the Polk County Courthouse from 5th Avenue. The building was designed and built by Proudfoot and Bird in 1906 in the Beaux Arts style for a cost of $750,000 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is located at 500 Mulberry Street, Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa. 1908 postmark. Number 6414.
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This is the second Presbyterian church erected in 1894 at a cost of $16,000. It was demolished in 1975. 1908 postmark.
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Looking east from the corner of Main Street (Sixth Avenue) and Ninth Street. The DeWitt Public Library was built in 1907 with the help of a $6,500 grant from Andrew Carnegie. 1908 postmark.
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Looking northwest at an example of Carnegie Library architecture in the Beaux-Arts style completed in 1903 by architects Smith and Gage from Des Moines, Iowa. It is currently being used as the Eagle Grove Historical Society. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Located at 210 West Broadway Street, Eagle Grove, Wright County, Iowa. 1908 postmark.
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The Clermont School was a three-story brick building constructed in circa 1867, and it occupied the site until the Clermont Junior High School was built in 1924. A new public school was built in 1912-1913. 1908 postmark.
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Two story wooden schoolhouse with bell tower with school children standing outside. 1908 postmark.
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Looking northeast at the Raccoon River which was first documented on the 1814 map by Lewis and Clark. It is a 30.8 mile long tributary of the Des Moines River. It flows generally eastward into Polk County, and joins the Des Moines River just south of downtown Des Moines and is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. 1908 postmark.
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Valley view of a farmhouse near Clayton, Iowa. 1908 postmark. Number G 9824.
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Women enjoying the surroundings at Rock Creek. 1908 postmark. Number 8635. PCK series.
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Depot with carts and milk cans on platform with grain elevator in the left background and hotel in the right background. 1908 postmark.