IOWA GHOST TOWNS
Van Buren County
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Van Buren County was named after Martin Van Buren.
The 8th Presidant of the United States
Established in 1836
Listed below are names and descriptions of Vanburen County towns
and villages, many have long ago disappeared,
Some became a part of other towns, that are still in existance
today.
The list below was taken from the Annuls of Iowa Vols. XVII & XVIII.
Used with permission from the State Historical Society of Iowa
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any of these towns?
We would appreciate it if you would send it to us. Descriptions pictures etc.
For verification purposes, please list where you obtained the information.
You can click on the Towns with an asterisk* for more information.
ALEXANDRA. The early name of the present village of Douds.
BLACK HAWK CITY. A village laid out in 1848 in the southwest corner of section 7,
Village Township, south of the Des Moines River und opposite Iowaville. It became
extinct about 1861.
BOYER STATION. A former station on the C., B. & Q. Railroad about two miles west
of Farmington. There was also a post office of the same name there from 1876 for
a few years, when it was changed to Boyer, and discontinued in 1884.
BUSINESS CORNERS. A village on the north side of section 24, Village Township,
established in 1846. Post office, 1849-64.
COLUMBUS. A pioneer village in section 27, Washington Township, on the northeast
side of the Des Moines River, about two miles above Bentonsport. The government
surveyors in 1837 report in their notes its existence.
DES MOINES CITY. A village founded in 1839 and now included in the northeast portion
of the present town of Keosauqua.
DOGTOWN. An early nickname for the present town of Mount Sterling.
GAINESBOROUGH. A post office (1854-64) in or near the northeastern part of section
15, Harrisburg Township.
HARRISBURG. A hamlet of brief existence established about 1840 in Harrisburg Township,
and thought to have been near the center of the township.
HARRISBURG. Another hamlet by this name in a vcry early day was laid out on the
opposite side of the Des Moines River from Farmington, but its existence was brief.
HEDROLANTE. A hamlet in existence in 1840 in or near section 22, Des Moines Township,
about five miles southwest of Keosauqua.
HICKORY. The name of the post office (1858-82) at the village of Independent, which
see below.
HOME. A post office (1849-82) on the east side of the southeast quarter of section
20, Des Moines Township.
INDEPENDENT. The pioneer name of the present vi11age and railway station of Selma.
Independent was laid out in 1851.
INDIAN PRAIRIE. The name of the post office (1843-53) at what later became the present
village of Lebanon.
IOWA CITY. A place referred to on pages 427, 433, 434, Acts of the Legislative Assembly
of Iowa Territory, session of 1838-39, evidently meaning what was soon after known
as Iowaville, which see below.
IOWAVILLE., A village on the west side of section 7, Village Township, and the north
side of the Des Moines River, about one mile northwest of the present village of
Selma. At one time in the 1860's it was prosperous, having some 200 inhabitants.
LEXINGTON. A village established in 1838 in section 21, Washington Township, on the
north side of the Des Moines River, about four miles above Bentonsport.
LICK CREEK. The name of the post office at Philadelphia, which see below, from 1849
to 1855.
LONGVIEW. A former railroad station and a post office in the 1880's in section 14,
Union Township, about two miles west of Stockport.
McVEIGH. A former railroad station and post office (1882-1901) near the southwest
corner of section 21, Cedar Township, about three miles east of Stockport. See
Zanesvi11e below.
MECHNICSBURG. A pioneer place and a post office in the early 1850's in the southwestern
part of Chequest Township.
MEEK'S MILLS. The original name of the place that later became the present town of
Bonaparte.
NAPOLEON. A projected early village on the south side of the Des Moines River opposite
Bonaparte. Never built up.
NEW LEXINGTON. A town and post office from 1837 to 1842 one mile west of the present
town of Bonaparte.
NEW MARKET. The name by which Black Hawk City, wbich see above, was known during
a few of the later years' of its existence. New Market was the name of the post office
there from 1851 to 1865.
NILES. A village in the southeastern part of the south section 5, Des Moines Township.
The village was laid out in 1855 and the post offiee was from 1860 to 1874.
NORTH BENTONSPORT. The name by which the present town of Bentonsport was known from
its founding in 1839 until I852, while the portion of the town south of the Des
Moines River Was called South Bentonsport until 1852 when it was changed to Vernon.
OAKLAND. A town laid out In I857 southeast of and adjacent to Bentonsport.
OAK POINT. A post office (1849-80) in the northeastern part of the north section
5, Jackson Township.
PALESTINE. The government surveyors of I837 describe in their notes that they found
this town in sections 16 and 17, Bonaparte Township, which would be on the south
side of the Des Moines River opposite Bonaparte.
PAMEKO. The name of the post office from I854 to I857 at or near where stands the
present village of Selma.
PARKERSVILLE. The government surveyors of 1837 set out in their notes that they
found this town in the northwestern part of section 17, Union Township, which would
be about one mile southeast of the present village of Birmingham.
PHILADEPHLIA. The pioneer name of the present village of Kilbourn when it was laid
out in 1839 and for several years. Philadelphia was also the name of the post office
from 1841 to 1849.
PLEASANT HILL. A village across the river and south from Keosauqua, in section 36,
Van Buren Township. It was founded in 1850 and had a post office by the same name
from 1853 to 1855. A few residences still remain. It is now a part of Keosauqua and
is sometimes called South Keosauqua.
PLYMOUTH. A village in the northern part of section 35, Farmington Township, adjacent
to the town of Farmington on the north. Founded in 1842.
PORTLAND. The pioneer name of the present village of Leando from its beginning in
1837 to 1880. Leando was the name of the post office from 1840 to 1864. The government
surveyors of 1837 report they found this village of Portland.
PORTORO. The name of the post office at Van Buren, which see below, for a few years
in the early 1840's.
RISING SUN. The original name of the present village of Pittsburg from the time of
its beginning in 1837 until 1842. The post office was Rising Sun from ]841 to 1844.
The government surveyors report finding tbe town of Rising Sun at this location in
1837.
ROCHESTER. Laid out in 1837 near the center of the east section 29, Van Buren Township,
on the left bank of the Des Moines River, about two miles northeast of Keosauqua.
The government surveyors report finding this town in 1837. It contended with Keosauqua
for the county seat in 1837.
SALUBRIA. A village laid out in 1838 about two miles south of Farmington and on the
same side of the river. It existed only a few years.
SHERIDAN. A post office (1865-77) in or near section 29, Cedar Township.
SOUTH BENTONSPORT. The early name of what became Vernon in 1852. See North Bentonsport,
also see Vernon.
SOUTH KEOSAUQUA. A hamlet laid out in 1840 on the north side of the Des Moines River
and now absorbed in the southern part of Keosauqua.
STUMPTOWN. A local name given in pioneer times to the village of Independence, which
see above.
SUMMIT. The name first given the present village of Mount Zion when it was laid out
in 1860.
UNION. A post office (1847-56) in or near section 34, Union Township.
UNION CORNERS. The early name of the post office (1849-53) at what later became the
village of Mount Sterling.
UPTON. An important inland town near the center of the south section 17, Des Moines
Township. It was on the state line, part of the town being in Missouri. Post office,
1852-1903.
VAN BUREN. A town laid out in 1839, now constituting the southern part of the present
town of Keosauqua. Van Buren and Des Moines City, which see above, joined together,
making Keosauqua. Van Buren was the name of the post office from 1841 to 1845 when
it became Keosauqua.
VERNON. A village laid out in 1837 as South Bentonsport, but became Vernon in 1852.
It was on the south side of the Des Moines River from Bentonsport. A few old buildings
still remain. Vernon was the name of their post office from 1852 to 1903.
WATERTOWN. Laid out as a town in 1837 across the Des Moines River from Farmington.
Little improving, if any, was done.
WILLITS. A hamJet, former railroad station and post office from 1872 to 1894, excepting
the interruption of a few discontinuances, located in section 1, Vernon Township,
about midway between Farmington and Mount Sterling.
WILSONVILLE. A post office (1872-1901) in the southern part of section 9, Cedar
Township.
WOODS MILLS. The early name of the present town of Mount Sterling.
ZANESVILLE. [Note: Lanesville as listed earlier in this article by Dr. Fitzpatrick,
and by any whom he may have followed, should have been Zanesville. The name came
from Zanesville, Ohio, at which place was born and brought up J. H. McVeigh, on
whose land the post office was kept, and who was the second postmaster of Zanesville
post office. This was for some time after its establishment the post office of the
subscriber.-E.R.H·]
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