Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-12-30
WEST LIBBRTY-NuScATINR
COUNTY.
Prospects. Trade. Rail
road Interests. Schools,
Churches. Location
and Enterprise.

road Interests. Schools,
Churches. Location
and Enterprise.
Leaving Wilton on the morsing express,
re rattls1 down the road to Moscow, and
aoss the clear bright waters OF Cedar river
N the famous bridge. This 10 q noble
structure, aud one Of the best built and
most substantial in the West. OF the
'ridIe - jog slowly along. across . trsstls
sorkhAli mile in length, aud last once
lgain on terra .frma, dart rapidly away
through some oil the most lovely country
% be found in tais part Of the "heritare u
Pausing . moment ct the pleasant li,tla
village Of Atalissa, Ne again push on and
[orty minutes from Wilton, We disembsrI
NJ the hsAuaifol inland city Of
WEST LIBERTY,
Located on the ridge or divide" betweer
the east and vest branches Of tie classic
with . gentle slope to thu
enc can hardly imagine o more
er spetsant town rite, and II.
founders deserve the regards Of pos,erity
through a.! succeeding generations
Twenty yeats ago three or four housas OF
the old Iowa City and Davenport stag,
road rejoiccd in the name of"West L,oer
ty," but tho building Of the railroad
couple Of miles south AID the establishiu;
OF the new town not only robbed the vcnsr
able hamlet oi its name, but the owners o
the buildings mounted them forthwith OF
shesls and moved, bag AID baggage, eyei
to the enemy.
The present village I've should say city
as II is incorporated) was founded in 1856
BY Mcsars. j. w. Spence and 7. j. Robi
scAof Rock lsland. J. W. Clark, Of Iowl
City and WIN. 8. Evans Of West Liberty
Mr.. Evans claims tho honor Of being th,
"oldest inhabitant' as he occupied the faru
On which the town 10 laid cut, having
bought it the year previous. As sson .,
the lots were staksd of Messrs Morsh, o.
and Miller commenced the erection Of {
store. A few weeks later Dr.. Albert Ady,
WIN. Miller, Peter Folder, Isaac X. Cone
Phillip Heck and number Of other gentle
men purchasei lots and ediatsly began
building. Fer Two years the growth Of the
place YES very rapid. and - was the case
III vbSObV ktVPWtv hui10 - CASVVuiUkty
high prices. The 81 crash como on and
- soon as ito effects were felt here in tbs
West. the progress Of the village stopped
and remained In stoss que nntill06l when
things again took start and have contin.
ued 10 flourish finely ever since. Land in
the neighborhood that would not bring 81
per acre in 1857 will now sell readily 81
from &S5 TO SEQ per acre
The place 10 now 80 Incorporated city,
with . regularly elected mayor, city coun-
Gil. police. etc. Its population will number
somewhere between twelve and fifteen
hundred. There are thirty stores and
shops, one hotel. three elevators, . fine
D,,sm tlouring mill. three Or fonr black
'mi,h shops, two wagon shops. etc.
Its trade 10 very good and 10 drawn from
! large scope Of country. extending north,
south, east and west. The people claim
Ill tho produce ,sised between the Iowa
Ind Cedar rivers. Located IS miles from
10 from Iowa City asd 20 from
Davenport, it divides trace between the
Two former and ships to the la,t.r, switch, /"
rs Sam Weller would say, us = very hex
ccedin' coed thing for us:
SCHOOLS AND cuuACHEs.
There is, We believe, but ono school
building in the town. This 10 a very fine
,no, however. and was erected in 1867 at .
cost Of IS 900. There IL an average At
tendance of 200 scholars. and four teachers
ire employed in training the young idea
,ow TO shoot"
Tho Pfesbyterians (New and Old School,
Methodist. Protestant Methodist, Chris
iaas and Catholics each have tasty and
church sdiices.
In striking contrast comes tho fact that
hsrs 10 mot saloon in the place.
RAILROADS.
As W have already stated, the Chicago,
Rock island ( Pacific read runs directly
through the town. On tho west side has
,een located the Burlington. Cedar Rapids
Minnesota Railroad. This company vas
organised q couple Of years ago. The stock
'ubscribcd in West Liberty and vicinity
vas $4,000. The bed Of the road is al
caiy under contract from Burlington to
his ONT, ard perhaps two-thirds of the
grading is finished. The arrangements for
ron and stock are perfected, and ere an
,th,r year rolls round the Libertyians ex.
,ect to hear the whistle Of the first locomo-
i've. II anything could possibly be needed
o finish the ruination of Muscatine, this
Dad supplies the deficiency. Ilemmed in
north aud sou'h, cast and west, by foreign
-oads, Muscatinc has tut one resource, ard
hat is. as in olden days, To plant hereof
irmly on her 'natural advantages" and
wait. Micaw Der like, for something 10 turn
Up. In the meanwhile her streets aid
sharves can he used for lasturage.
Right between the two railroads. an
addition has been laid cut by land
company, under the management Of Messrs.
and Harvey. This, in time, must
become tho centre Of business, from the
rery necessities Of the case. To parties rho
Y i'll build at once these lots will be sold at
l bargain. The location is beautiful, and
70 prophecy that those who invest viii
never regret II.
Bu0lNEos AND BUSINRSo Mxu.
Among other business advantages, West
Liberty enjoys the luxury Of bank. This
institution 10 Incorporated under the bank
ing laws Of Iowa. and, W are informed, 10
long . good business. The following are
10 oiHcsFs:
Preeident-fIeury Harrison.
Vice Presidsnt-Elisha Schoolsy.
Cashisr-H. B. Ssdgwick.
Directors-Aessrs. Hslmss. Cowgirl, Ball.
" ooley. Evans, Coltsn and Russell.
The general basiness 10 carried on BY the
following firms:
Dry Goods-Harrissa Bres., Lewis Net.
:alf 4 Co., J. & r. Cslton, D. 4 +. L.
3trattau.
EGreesriss-E. Hull 4 O., Gaskill /
3hipmsn. Z. II. Kisg. J. W. Scranton,
Wright Bres., Joshua Williams, and W. w.
Harvey.
Druss-E. II. King, Shaw 1 Bayley, and
Merchant faibr-E. II, Buckiushap.
Baksry-J. townsend.
Dss1s aad 6hees--Psldes 4 Dsibsr, Reg.
maid : Strattan. G. A. Wright, end John
LaFranx
Elisha Sehooley and p. Heck.
Clothiog- johnson 4 Gaskiil.
Livery-Fislsy 4 Gregg. Jas. and Jno.
iivens AZ also erecting flne buildiog to
10 devoted to this business.
FIGURING Mill-Keith Bros. { Co.
Elevators Harrison Bros, Evars 4
,hdd, Il. Hull + Go.
Harness Wilson 4 Hice.
Narawafe, Stoves and Tin-McElrey 4
icDouel, and Y. Morris.
One Of the most sntsrprising firms IL
" est kiberty u that Of Harrison Bros
They have large and we'll stock cd ,Ary
.ccds store ,and drive good trade ia cloth
ng. Bssides they evn . steam elevator