Churchville, Iowa

Churchville, Iowa
unincorporated community
Churchville, Iowa is located in Iowa
Churchville, Iowa
Churchville, Iowa
Location within the state of Iowa
Coordinates: 41°23′48″N 93°45′04″W / 41.39667°N 93.75111°W / 41.39667; -93.75111
Country United States
State Iowa
CountyWarren County
Surveyed1854
Founded byJohn Churchman
Elevation
296 m (971 ft)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code515
[1][2]

Churchville is an unincorporated community in Warren County, Iowa, United States. It is located in Jefferson Township at the intersection of Churchville Street and 30th Avenue. It is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest of Prole and two miles (3.2 km) north of Martensdale at an altitude of 971 feet (296 m).[1][2][3]

History

Churchville was founded by John Churchman in 1854.[4]

The Church of the Assumption, a Catholic church, was constructed in 1859 under the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The building, the oldest Catholic church in the county, was destroyed in a fire in March 1933 and rebuilt soon afterward.[3] Calvary Cemetery, which dates from at least 1854, has been associated with the Church of the Assumption and is located about a mile west of the community.[5] The last regular mass for the parish (established in 1890) was August 28, 2014. Parishioners were asked by the Des Moines Diocese to move to a larger parish. The building will continue to serve as a shrine where mass may be celebrated once a month and on special occasions.[6]

A rail line was established at Churchville by the late 1800s. Churchville's population was 62 in 1902.[7] The town won two complaints (1917 and 1920) against Chicago Great Western Railroad for repair of the local stock yards for shipping animals to market.[8][9]

Rail service to Churchville was discontinued in July 1921.[3] Churchville's population was 80 in 1925.[10] The population was 75 in 1940.[11]

Notable residents

  • Charles F. Linnan (1867–1919) Democratic State Representative of the Iowa General Assembly[12]
  • Adam Walsh (1901–1985) American football player and coach

References

  1. ^ a b "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Churchville". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. ^ a b c Warren County, Iowa. Iowa GenWeb Project. Accessed 2011-05-15
  4. ^ The History of Warren County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, &c, Volume 1. Higginson Book Company. 1879. p. 504.
  5. ^ "Calvary Cemetery History". Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  6. ^ Steve Karlin (August 28, 2014). "The last church in Churchville is dying". KCCI. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  7. ^ Cram's Modern Atlas: The New Unrivaled New Census Edition. J. R. Gray & Company. 1902. pp. 203–207.
  8. ^ Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners for the Year ..., Volume 43, p. PA15, at Google Books
  9. ^ Legislative Documents Submitted to the General Assembly of the ..., Volume 5, p. PA259, at Google Books
  10. ^ Company, Rand McNally and (1925). Premier Atlas of the World: Containing Maps of All Countries of the World, with the Most Recent Boundary Decisions, and Maps of All the States,territories, and Possessions of the United States with Population Figures from the Latest Official Census Reports, Also Data of Interest Concerning International and Domestic Political Questions. Rand McNally & Company. p. 190.
  11. ^ The Attorneys List. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, Attorney List Department. 1940. p. 295.
  12. ^ "State Representative - Charles Francis Linnan". Iowa General Assembly. Retrieved September 13, 2014.