| History of Greenfield, Iowa | |
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Once a vast expanse of open prairie, the area around Greenfield
was first settled in 1854. The state of Iowa was opened to settlers in 1832, but by mid-century, the plains of this area were still foreign to all but a few nomadic Native Americans. Here, the Indians hunted and lived among elk, red deer, buffalo, beaver, mink and an occasional black bear. Thomas Hodgeson and a man named Hillin were the first to construct pole cabins on the site that would become Greenfield. Neither man owned the land where they settled. That was sold to David Lamb on May 25, 1855 by the State of Iowa. The land was purchased by Milton C. Munger in 1856, who engaged the services of county surveyor D.M. Valentine to plan a town and Greenfield was born. It is Munger who is responsible for the unique town square in the center of town. The square, with its alleys extending from the corners and streets intersecting in mid-block is one of only a few known to exist. Also included in the original plat of the town was the city park located at Grant and NE Second Streets. The name Greenfield came from the obvious source: the lush green fields that dominated the plain. These plains would prove to be the key to Greenfield's prosperity as farmers found them to be endless sources of fertility. The first permanent structure in the town was a stagecoach station built by Matthew Clark at the corner of West Iowa and SW Second Streets. The building was constructed of native hewn planks with a canvas roof.  |
The stagecoach, which passed through Greenfield on its
way from Des Moines and Winterset to Lewis and Council Bluffs, then known
as the Kanesville, was the main form of transportation for travelers through
town until the railroad arrived in 1879. With the railroad came not only
passenger transportation, but freight service for the area's stock, grain
and produce. That first stagecoach station also housed the first post office
with Clark as the first postmaster; and the second structure added to the
town was a hotel in 1858 called the Kirkwood Hotel. Early ads list the going
rate for board and lodging at $2 per night. That included "portable conveniences"
but no bath. After the hotel was built, the stage stopped there and Clark's stage station became Greenfield's first store, opened by A.P. Littleton in 1859. Littleton traveled a two-week journey to St. Louis, Mo. for his dry goods stock. He later opened the first school and became the first mayor of Greenfield. His home, built in the 1860s at the corner of West Iowa and NW Third Street, still stands as the oldest surviving house in town. It has a native walnut staircase and woodwork. The house served as the first school and city council chambers. Greenfield's second store, carrying drugs as well as general merchandise, was opened by C.P. Gilbert. The third was a harness shop erected and operated by Charles Bishop in 1870. A fourth establishment also sold general merchandise at the hands of the Hutchison Brothers in 1873. The first blacksmith to set up shop in the budding town was H.W. Blakely in 1859. |
The
first schoolhouse was built in 1861. The first doctor, Dr. Edginton/Edinton,
set up practice in 1864. The first lawyer, T.W. Neville, came in 1869.
Early doctors pulled teeth, and early lawyers handled real estate transactions.
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