29 Apr 2025 - Walk Down Memory Lane in Mount Pleasant

 

Today we visited several locations in my old home town of Mount Pleasant Iowa.  The pictures that follow probably won't mean much to most but as we drove around town a lot of memories came back to me.  I am thankful those memories are still there as it seem like as the years tick by a lot of the memories fade and that will only get worse I'm afraid.  

My first house - 204 E Warren St,:
I was born at the hospital in Mount Pleasant on 24 Aug 1955.  I don't remember much about that event LOL, but here is the house I came home to, then and now:  

Mid-1950's?

2025

Our grandparents house - 902 E. Henry St.:

Our grandparents lived on a farm that we will visit later this week until at some point they moved into town.  I remember vividly visiting them on a few Christmas's, and then I used to visit for a week or two in the summer.  I actually helped my grandfather dig the basement under this house.  They used to have a huge garden behind their garage, which is all grass now.  The lady that owns it now gave me a tour through the main parts of the house and it is not much different inside - much smaller than I remember.  

The Forest Home Cemetery and the Linch Plot:

My mom's maiden name was Linch.  Many of the Linch's are buried here in Mount Pleasant so we visited the cemetery.  We had no trouble finding the plot as the monument is huge:

Grandpa Jesse Clark and Grandma Mary Ann

My aunt Erma (mom's sister) and uncle Virgil Cooper

Old Threshers:

Across the street from the cemetery is the location where the Henry County Fair and the Midwest Old Settlers and Thresher's Reunion is held.  The reunion was created in 1950 and it's purpose was to keep the memory alive of steam-powered threshing machines and the hard-working farmers of Iowa and the entire Midwest.  Each year the event takes place and runs for five days, ending on the Labor Day weekend.  They feature steam engines and antique agricultural equipment, trains, tools, and history involving the Midwest.  This time of year the museum is open and it is amazing.  A few pictures:

That is just a fraction of the pictures I took in the museum, which is multiple buildings.  The doll museum was really amazing.

After we left the Old Thresher's we drove around town quite a bit.  Iowa Wesleyan College has closed and at least some of the buildings taken over by the Mount Pleasant school system. 

The beautiful chapel building

We plan to revisit the town square and walk around the shops.  Motorola used to have a radio factory here and it is closed.  The Blue Bird Bus company used to be here also and it is gone.  There used to be a Sheaffer Pen company here in town and it is gone too.  It's sad to see towns like this lose major industries, but I guess it is a sign of the times.  The population is about 9400.

That is about it for today.  As we drove back to the RV park we captured a few pictures of the amazing old houses here.  More of those to come:    

 

Tomorrow I think we are headed to Fort Madison Iowa to see a few sights there.