Muscatine
County Iowa
History Page

with references to Louisa,Scott,Johnson and Cedar Counties

A bit of history and geography of the Muscatine area is of course
essential to genealogical research, so we've made this little page to give
you some basic background on the area.

Location and Creation of Muscatine
County

Muscatine County was created in 1836 from a portion of the
old Des Moines County. It is located in the southeastern portion of Iowa,
bordered on the northeast by Scott County, on the north by Cedar Co, the
northwest by Johnson County and the Southwest by Louisa County. To the
southeast and east you'll find the Mississippi River dividing Muscatine
County from Rock Island County, Illinois. It is not unusual to find someone
who was supposedly "born and raised in Muscatine County" who actually was
born in one of these other surrounding areas, so if you don't find your
person in Muscatine County's records, do check these other areas.

Prior to 1838, when Iowa became a territory of its own so records
may be found in the Wisconsin Territory from 1836-1838, Michigan Territory
from 1834-1836, and Missouri Territory from 1812-1821. There was also a
period of 10 years from 1824 to 1834 when this area was classified as "Unorganized"
Territory.

Muscatine County Post Offices
in 1846

By the year 1846, there were already several established Post Offices
in the county. Listed in 1846 as official Post Office stops were:Bloomington (now Muscatine), Fairport, Moscow, Overman's Ferry and
West Liberty.

Townships of Muscatine County

As of 1910, the following townships were listed in Muscatine County
on the United States Census:

A large number of Muscatine County residents were employed in the
button factories in the area. "Great Rivers" has brought online a brief
history of these factories to give you a feel of how they operated. If
your ancestor worked in the button industry, you should definately visit
this site.

These little random notes were found in "Iowa: A Guide to the Hawkeye
State", Compiled and written by the Federal Writer's Project of the Works
Progress Administration for the State of Iowa; sponsored by The State Historical
Society of Iowa, Published in 1938.

Geologists have discovered that during the third glacial age,
the Illinoian, the now long extinct Lake Calvin was formed, covering large
areas in what is now Johnson, Cedar, Muscatine, Washington and Louisa Counties.
As the Illinoian Glacier crept westward, the Mississippi River, and the
water therein, became blocked at the mouth of the Wapsipinicon River and
was forced to a new channel about 25 miles west of the original. As the
waters reached the vicinity of what is now Columbus Junction, the Illinoian
Glacier again dammed the way on the southeast, and drift of the Kansan
blocked passage on the southwest. From Columbus Junction the waters backed
up the Cedar River Valley to West Liberty and Moscow, to form a large body
of water of great depth--perhaps more than 80 feet--over parts of what
is now Iowa City, and deeper in other localities. Lake Calvin probably
remained for 130,000 years, or until the approach of the fourth great ice
sheet, the Iowan lobe of the Wisconsin.

Mound building Indians of Iowa:

The mound builders of Iowa have been divided into five groups--Woodland,
Hopewellian, Oneota, Mill Creek, and Glenwood--according to the materials
found.....The Hopewellian culture is found along the eastern border of
Iowa upon the banks of the Mississippi River in Jackson, Scott, Muscatine
and Louisa Counties, from Dubuque south to the mouth of the Iowa River.
An isolated group of Hopewellian mounds in farther north, in the Turkey
River Valley in Clayton County....

Not satisfied with hauling their produce to market over long distances,
Iowa farmers were quick to encourage the development of the railroads.
The Mississippi and the Missouri, the first railroad in the State, was
completed from Davenport to Muscatine in 1855. By January 1, 1856, this
road was extended from Davenport to Iowa City, then to the State Capital,
and the first train puffed between the two cities even before the first
bridge had been built to connect the rails with Illinois across the Mississippi.

The Iowa State Teachers Association first convened at Muscatine in
1854 at the call of D. Franklin Wells, who was then in charge of a school
in the village. Wells, who served twice as president of the association,
was made head of the normal department at the State University in 1856,
and later served as State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Norman Baker of Muscatine began broadcasting from his radio station
KTNT a reputed cancer cure, which the American Medical Association did
not accept. On June 5, 1931, after a long siege in the courts, the Baker
station was ordered by the Federal Radio Commission to cease broadcasting.

History of Some Muscatine County
Towns

Some town histories for different locations in Muscatine County
and surrounding areas written back in the 1930's. SURNAMES appear in them
so don't skip this area. Get a cup of coffee, sit back, as it is a somewhat
LONG page. You can cheat by using "Find" or whatever word search tool your
system offers to search an area of interest, but you'll be cheating yourself
out of some good stories!