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Ireton Area Historical
Society
The Ireton Area Historical
Society was formed in the fall of 1977 when a group of
area residents met to discuss the best way to preserve
and record the history of Ireton and its four
surrounding townships (Reading, Washington, Center and
Eagle). The Society was incorporated on May 10,
1978 under Iowa Code Chapter 504A (non-profits).
The Society's mission is
to preserve Ireton area history, to educate
local residents about the history of Ireton and the
surrounding area and to serve as a resource for
individuals seeking information about the history of the
area and of their families.
Membership in the Society
is open to any interested person. Annual dues are
$5 and a lifetime membership is just $25. The
Society's current officers are: Shirley Ten Napel,
President; Janet Smit, Vice-President; Eloise Heuer,
Secretary and Jolene De Boer, Treasurer. Ardis
Eilts, the Society's former President and a founding
member of the Society, serves as resource for historical
information.
The Society has two major
preservation projects underway at this time. The
first is cleaning, organizing, scanning and
preserving its historical photo collection. Thanks
to a grant from the Ireton Community Fund as well as
proceeds from the sale of the Society's Ireton 125th
cookbook, we have purchased cleaning supplies and
archival quality storage systems. We are also
scanning the photos and hope to make DVD's of the photos
available to area schools as well as to the community.
The second project is the Veteran's Memory Album project
which is described more full
here.
For information about the
Society or its projects or to request that any of our
buildings be opened, please e-mail:
iretonhistory@live.com or telephone Shirley Ten
Napel at 712-278-2203.
Ireton, A Proud Heritage
(1882-1982)
The Historical Society's
first notable accomplishment was the publication of
Ireton, A Proud Heritage (1882-1982), a 500+ page
book regarding the history of Ireton. The book was
published in time for Ireton's centennial celebration in
1982. In addition to extensive historical
information and photographs, the "Centennial Book"
contains extensive family histories submitted by current
and former residents.
Historical House
In the 1980's, the Society
purchased a house located at 301 Ash Street. Now
known as the "Historical House, the home had once been
owned by Lewis and Minnie Oloff, early Ireton residents.
The Society has furnished the ground floor parlor,
dining room, bedroom, bathroom and pantry with antiques
and other furnishings appropriate to the late 1800's and
early 1900's. Changing exhibits of historical
memorabilia are displayed in cabinets in the house's
back parlor.
The House is open to the
public for a variety of community events and is open to
groups and individuals upon request. For
information, contact Society President Shirley Ten Napel
at 712-278-2203.
Kemper School
In the late 1980's, early
1990's, the Society purchased a one-room school house
from the Greater Scott School District in South Dakota.
The school was moved to a lot south of the Historical
House and is named the "Kemper School" in honor of Floyd
"Bud" Kemper, a founding member of the Historical
Society.
The school's architecture
is typical of the one-room schoolhouses used throughout
Sioux County in the first half of the 20th century.
the school is furnished with desks and teaching
materials appropriate to the early to mid-1990's.
The school's basement is furnished with tables and
chairs appropriate for meetings or for working on group
projects.
Area teachers are invited
and welcome to conduct occasional classes at the school
so that their students can "live" for a day in the
period of the one-room school. The school is also
open to the public for a variety of events. The
society also opens the school to groups and individuals
upon request.
City Hall Museum
In 1999, the city of Ireton donated the
town's former City Hall to the Historical Society.
The Society has converted the hall to a museum
displaying an extensive collection of historical
memorabilia, household tools, farming implements,
photographs, military uniforms and equipment, and other items of historical interest.
The museum is open to the public at a variety of events
and will be opened for groups upon request in the
spring, summer and fall months.
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