Homer, Iowa - A Hamilton County Settlement
By Martin E. Nass
Transcribed for the IAGenWeb Project by Janelle Martin, with permission of Martin "Ed" Nass.
Homer was at one time the largest town in all of Webster and Hamilton
Counties combined. At its peak it had 600 residents. It was located in
SW Sec. 6-87-26. The story of Homer's rise and fall is given in the
Webster County and Hamilton County stories on the Hamilton County
History Home Page.
Homer was named by Granville Burkley for the epic Greek poet. The town
was laid out in 1852 just after Risley and Yell Counties were combined.
This put Homer in the center of the large new Webster County. A stage
line started service between Boonesboro in Boone County to Fort Dodge in
Webster County, passing through Hook's Point, Homer, Border Plains, and
Brushy, before arriving in Fort Dodge.
The original Homer plat showed 42 blocks with streets from the north of
First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth. The south edge of the
plat had no street, but today it is the blacktop south of Homer. The
north-south streets were named Walnut, Water, Main, Washington, and
Chestnut.
The present Methodist Church is located at the corner of Fourth and Main
Streets. A Christian Church was located at the south end of Main and
was, for a long time, used as a gas station. Homer also had a third
church in its early history; a Campbellite Church. It's exact location
has been lost.
In February, 1856, an addition was put on the north edge; these streets
were named Broadway, Clinton, De Wit, and Wayne. Homer's hopes for a
railroad, and possible continued existence were raised when talk of a
railroad between Boone and Webster City surfaced. A branch going to
Homer was discussed. It was to be called the Graham-Crosby spur, but it
never got past the planning stage. The post office was closed on Sept.
30, 1913. Today all that remains of Homer is the Homer Methodist Church,
the Lamb Small Engine business, and a house and mobile home.
Hook's Point - This settlement originated when Isaac Hook and his
brother, James, came to the area in 1851. One person, a family member,
insists that they arrived in 1849. This date is given in a letter
written by a descendent about 90 years later. The Hook family does not
show up on the 1850 census in our area. They do appear on the 1850
Federal Census as residents of Lee County. Lee's 1912 History of
Hamilton County, and Bessie Lyon's book Early Days in Hamilton County,
Then and Now both give their arrival as 1851. At this time there were
only two other settlements in the area, Homer and Fort Dodge. The
settlement was located in SE/NE Sec. 6-89-26 in Marion Township. Isaac
Hook tried to name the town Marion City, but the local residents
insisted on calling it Hook's Point. Early maps in 1857 and 1858 gave
the name as Marion City. Hook operated a hotel, which he called the
Marion City Hotel, and a tavern. It was in this tavern that two
residents argued over who owned how much of a common fence. Charles
Gatchell, the larger, gave George Smith a pounding. As Smith turned to
leave the tavern, he saw a loaded gun which had been left there. He
stopped, picked it up,turned, and fired. Gatchell died about 25 minutes
later. He was buried outside the cemetery, just north of the fence. This
was the first murder in our county. An 1869 pamphlet was published
telling of the virtues of the area. Hook's Point was described in this
way. "Until recently, Hook's Point was known as 'Ten Eyck Farm.' It has
a population of 100, has a post office, two stores, a blacksmith shop, a
sawmill, a grist mill, and a physician. It is located on a stage road
connecting Montana and Fort Dodge. Eventually there will doubtless be a
railroad running from Montana up the Des Moines River on the east side,
which must of necessity pass through Hook's Point and Homer. This is all
that either place needs to render it, a few years hence, a thriving and
populous town." The town of Montana is now called Boone. Fred Runkle,
editor of the Stanhope Observer, had a plat map of Hook's Point
showing 23 houses, several businesses including a brickyard, a sawmill,
a wagon shop, a cheese factory, a drugstore, two saloons, three general
stores, and a hotel. The railroad from Montana did not materialize;
instead the railroad from Jewell Junction to Dayton spelled the death of
Hook's Point. All that remains today is the cemetery. It is interesting
to note that Fred Runkle spearheaded a drive to purchase a three-foot
strip of land north of the cemetery. Then the fence was moved north, so
that Charles Gatchell's grave is now inside the cemetery.
Hope Hollow - This settlement was the first stopping place for Wilson
Brewer and his family as they moved up the Boone River in 1850. Its
approximate location was in SW Sec. 31-88-25 of what is now called
Independence Township. He wintered here and named the area Hope Hollow
because he and his family hoped for a better life in Iowa. With Brewer
were his nephew, William Brewer, and William Stanley and his family.
Brewer staked out a claim just south of what was later called Bone's
Mill, but he soon sold out to his nephew and continued upstream the next
spring to found Newcastle and become the first settler in what we now
call Webster City.
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