From the 1936 WPA Writers Project
On the main line of the C. B. and Q Railroad three and one-half miles west of Corning on U.S. 34 and four and one-half miles south on County Road 155, is the town of Nodaway. It has a population of 334. Residents of the town are largely of Swedish and Irish descent. businesses of the town include a garage, produce station, cafe, two oil stations, hardware, implement and furniture store. There is one church, the First Presbyterian, built in 1900 and rebuilt in 1910. The Nodaway consolidated school is located in the village. This is a three-story modern brick building with large playgrounds, tennis courts and an athletic field.
1984 Adams County History Book
On June 2, 1854, the land which is now Nodaway was bought from the government by James Harlow. It was virgin soil, mostly timber. Early settlers living on the banks of the East Nodaway River decided their settlement needed a name. They appropriately called it "East Nodaway". During the 1870's a new name, "Rachelle", was adopted and recorded in Washington, D.C. The name proved so unpopular that within a year it was changed to "Nodaway", which was an Indian word meaning "Crossed without a canoe". Nodaway became incorporated as a town May 28, 1900.