AUDUBON.
The County Seat--The Mart Through Which Flows the Commerce of the Prosperous County--Schools--Churches--Residences--Private and Public Enterprises--Industries, Present and Future--Rare Inducements for the Location of Business Enterprises.
AUDUBON, the present county seat of Audubon county, was laid out by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, in the year 1878. The first sale of lots was on the 15th day of October of that year, on which day the aggregate sales were $6,190.00. The sales were confined almost entirely to the business locations, and property changed hands at fabulous prices. Before night of that day of sales several of the purchasers had commenced excavating, preparatory to erecting buildings, and during the following winter between fifty and sixty carpenters were kept busy. They perservered against many disadvantages, chief of which was the hauling of all material from Atlantic or Carroll--either over twenty-five miles distant--as the railroad did not reach here until late in December. As an evidence of the very rapid and substantial growth of the town we would cite the fact the the section of the town site was assessed in the spring of 1878 at $800,000, and in January, 1879 at $90,000.00, showing an increase in three months--from October to January--of $89,000.00. One year from the suspicious first sale of lots the vote upon locating the county seat here was taken, resulting favorably, and the removal of the records was immediately effected. The fine county
RESIDENCE OF FRANK GLEASON, AUDUBON.
[ 27]
and equipped with fire and burglar-proof vaults in readiness to receive the county trust.
The town site is one and one-half miles northwest of the geographical center of the county, on the left bank of the Blue Grass, a fine stream of never-failing and pure water, which affords the supply for the city water works. The supply is so abundant and the quality so superior that it has always answered all the needs of the town for general use, and for the fire department in the direst emergencies. A magnificent territory is tributary to the town and furnishes excellent trade.
The only acknowledged competitors lie in adjoining counties, each nearly thirty miles distant.
RESIDENCE OF CHARLES VAN GORDER, AUDUBON.
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Transcribed February, 2025 by Cheryl Siebrass from History of Audubon and Audubon County, Iowa,
The Eden of the West, 1887, pp. 27-28.
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