Missing Montezuma Boy

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Al_4_State

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Probably a dumb question...but are there any towns in Iowa that "vanished" (lack of a better term relatively recently (decades)? What becomes of those towns? Fascinating.
There are quite a few ghost towns in Iowa. Many of them vanished in the first half of the 20th century, if not earlier.

There's one very close to the farm I grew up on. There's still one maintained street, and two separate homes in what was once the town of Bailey. It hasn't really changed at all in my lifetime, and even in what my dad and uncle can remember. My grandpa can remember there being a few more homes and a store there, but it had pretty well ceased being an actual town before 1950.

 

Gunnerclone

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According to the state business tax climate index - Iowa ranks #38 out of 50 for being business tax friendly. Being expensive from a business standpoint tax wise plus a 5 month winter is not a winning formula.

Also a ridiculous state income tax. It’s a bad sign when even Republicans are so dead to the world that they allow a 3 billion surplus to exist at the same time as a 5% state income tax. Iowa could easily become a “rising” state again with Big Business Republicans in charge instead of Culture War/Corporate Farm Republicans running the show.

I think there’s a big alleyway for a Big business Republican to rise with a focus on business growth, infrastructure, and a toning down of the culture war stuff. Not sure who that person is though.
 
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NorthCyd

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There are quite a few ghost towns in Iowa. Many of them vanished in the first half of the 20th century, if not earlier.

There's one very close to the farm I grew up on. There's still one maintained street, and two separate homes in what was once the town of Bailey. It hasn't really changed at all in my lifetime, and even in what my dad and uncle can remember. My grandpa can remember there being a few more homes and a store there, but it had pretty well ceased being an actual town before 1950.

There are plenty of old mining towns that more or less disappeared when the coal mining industry went under in Iowa.
 

2speedy1

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There are quite a few ghost towns in Iowa. Many of them vanished in the first half of the 20th century, if not earlier.

There's one very close to the farm I grew up on. There's still one maintained street, and two separate homes in what was once the town of Bailey. It hasn't really changed at all in my lifetime, and even in what my dad and uncle can remember. My grandpa can remember there being a few more homes and a store there, but it had pretty well ceased being an actual town before 1950.

My mom went to school there!!
 
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2speedy1

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My oldest uncle did briefly when he was in Kindergarten, I think. IIRC, didn't you live in the area for awhile fairly recently? I seem to remember that conversation on here.
Grew up in that area, lived the majority of my life in that area. DM area now. Still have a lot of family all around that area.
 

crs8975

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There are quite a few ghost towns in Iowa. Many of them vanished in the first half of the 20th century, if not earlier.

There's one very close to the farm I grew up on. There's still one maintained street, and two separate homes in what was once the town of Bailey. It hasn't really changed at all in my lifetime, and even in what my dad and uncle can remember. My grandpa can remember there being a few more homes and a store there, but it had pretty well ceased being an actual town before 1950.

Sounds a lot like some towns my Dad would tell me about in/around the area where I'm from. Fern, Sinclair, Fredsville, Marietta. There is not shortage when you start looking into the history.
 

2speedy1

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Sounds a lot like some towns my Dad would tell me about in/around the area where I'm from. Fern, Sinclair, Fredsville, Marietta. There is not shortage when you start looking into the history.
Iowa has a really interesting history if you like that kind of thing, and if you dig past the mainstream things. Those more intricate detailed historical items of the early settlements and early coal days, that you have to dig past the noise of the stories that overtake most history lessons, to see them.

Spending years working on genealogy and visiting areas around the state researching family history really has shown me some really interesting things around the state.
 

NickTheGreat

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Looks like a family from the east side of Des Moines. Or new move ins to the outskirts of suburban Dallas.

People like to bag on rural Iowa for being like that. But I've been in neighborhoods in DSM with Nazi flags and swastikas. One dude had a big swastika spray painted on his garage door. I was a little curious what was in the garage since he had about 3.75 cars in his yard.
 
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BikeSkiClone

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My dad went to school in Wyman, IA. I don't think it'd be considered a "ghost" town these days but from what I see online it's now an "unincorporated" town. Been probably a decade since I've been through the area but I recall it having only maybe 5 homes.
 
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