Austinville Historical Society

Austinville is one of Iowa's blink-and-you-miss-it towns.  It has a grain elevator, photography studio, church, and several houses.  Visit the historical society at 9:00 any Tuesday morning for coffee, and you'll meet friendly people, enjoy delicious cookies or cake, and learn of a rich history of baseball games, bank robberies, and practical jokes.

The town's founders, the Austin brothers, began farming in the area in 1868.  An elevator was built in 1891, and in 1892, the name of the town was changed from Evergreen to Austinville, since another town had claimed the former name.

In 1894, a man named Bode started a store.  Six years later the Bode brothers completed a poultry house.  A mail route came to town in 1902, and in 1911 William Austin, Sam Patterson, and Richard Bode opened the bank, which moved to the building above in 1916.  Not long after, a creamery was built, a church established, and a parsonage built.  The Illinois Central Railroad went through town, and the small, but lively, community flourished.

For bank robbers, a new bank meant a new challenge.  One day a suspicious car came to town.  Mr. Schaap at the implement store alerted the banker, so they locked up and walked to the store.  Sure enough, the men in the car pulled masks over their faces and walked to the bank to declare a hold up.  The criminals found the door locked, and quickly drove away, later to be arrested in Texas.  An attempt to blow open the safe in 1922 was successful, netting $2,370.

Sam Patterson stopped another robbery by locking up in 1930.  Not to be deterred, robbers came again in late 1930 with nitroglycerin to blow open the safe.  They caused quite a bit of damage, but were unsuccessful.

During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt declared a bank holiday, and all banks were expected to close, though for a non-federal bank like the Austinville bank, closing wasn't mandatory, just "patriotic." Patterson had a mind of his own.  He did not close the bank.  

Federal agents soon walked in and asked, "Don't you know your bank is supposed to be closed today?" Without one word of argument, Patterson closed up and went home--but not for long!  As soon as the agents were safely out of town, he was back to work, and the bank was open for business as usual.

Another robbery was on February 17, 1940.  Thieves cut through the three-inch-thick manganese and steel safe.  This time, Patterson had a surprise for the intruders: a container of ammonia. Heat from the torch exploded the container, splattering ammonia across the room, and spotting a wall 8 feet away.  Evidence at the scene suggested that at least one of the men received serious burns. But the robbers made off with a haul of over $1000 and were never caught.

The next bank robbery was in 1977, when $300 was stolen by four armed men.  In 1985, a robber used a stun gun on the teller.  The bank closed in 1998, but Lincoln Saving Bank, formerly a branch of the Austinville bank, remains in Aplington.

Locals, who had always met for coffee at the bank (which also served as the post office), decided to continue the tradition, purchasing it as home of the Austinville Historical Society. (Papa, who visited the historical society with me, is on the front right.)

Mrs. DeVries, front left, kindly gave me a tour of the bank, and Mr. Bolhuis (at the head of the table) generously provided me with a copy of his book Austinville Memories, which can be purchased at the historical society.

Austinville Memories is a compilation of the recollections of area residents.  The author notes that stories may or may not be accurate, but they make for a fascinating read.

As one story goes, a couple people in town had a heated disagreement and were very mad at each other--so mad that one of them hung an effigy on one of the mail hooks.  A couple other guys got to thinking, took the effigy down, and put it in a binder box that just happened to measure 6'x2'x2.'

They set it on a cart by the tracks. The train stopped and picked it up with all due respects.  In the nearby town of Ackley, the undertaker unloaded it with pomp and ceremony and took it home with his horse and gray buggy.  It was certainly a surprise when he opened the "casket!"  The sheriff spent a whole day in Austinville trying to find the culprits, but nobody would tell him.

Left: Austinville baseball uniforms.  The red dress was the wedding dress of the mother of one of the ladies.

Right: The Austinville marching band.

Other stories in the book tell of the first movies in town (which were opposed by the church), new cars, the school, garage, bakery, gas station, and the town's favorite pastimes: softball and baseball.

If you're looking for a place with an intriguing history and the heartiest of Midwestern hospitality, the Austinville Historical Society is the place to go for a morning coffee break! (Don't bother if you're a bank robber!)