Story City Sheldall Schoolhouse Featured in Des Moines Register

The Sheldall Schoolhouse is featured in the July 20, 2014 Iowa Life section of the Des Moines Register.  The focus of the article was on the State Historical Society's one-room schoolhouse grant, which we received in 2013.  Much of the content focuses on the history and the preservation of the Sheldall Schoolhouse.  Please visit the link below to see the video and read the article. 

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/life/2014/07/18/schoolhouse-sheldall-hamilton-county/12838003/

There is more information about the Sheldall Schoolhouse on the Story City Historical Society website here and here.

Cambridge American Legion Mural Being Restored

The Cambridge American Legion had a mural created on their building in 2005.  This mural created by John Neal and Ken Tynan was listed as number 49 in The 50 Most Stunning Wall Murals From Around The World!

Restoration of this mural is now underway by Shawn Palek of Slater.  You can see his pictures of some of the restoration on his Facebook fine art page.  The picture above shows the mural as of November 8, 2013.  The Tri-County Times November 7, 2013 (subscription required to read online) has an interview with him about the project.  Funds from the Cambridge American Legion and a grant from the Story County Community Foundation  have made the restoration possible.

Come and see this Cambridge landmark on Water Street!

Ames Historical Society Announces Hoggatt School 2013 Summer Programs

ANNOUNCING the 2013 Summer Season at Hoggatt School! Programs this year will include Civil War Era Games, Ice Cream Social, and a series of presentations. See the full Hoggatt School Summer lineup.  It is open every Sunday from 2-4 p.m. during June, July, and August.

Story County Theaters in Hollywood in the Heartland

Hollywood in the Heartland is a research project of Preservation Iowa and the Iowa State Historic Preservation Office that seeks to document Iowa's movie legacy.  Part of this has been identification of motion picture theaters and other buildings that have served as theaters.  Their online database of these buildings allows searching by name, city, county, and architect or builder.

There are 16 buildings found by searching for Story (as a county) in the database as shown below.

Theater	Address	City
Varsity Theatre (85-00961)	2410 Lincoln Way	Ames
Ames Theatre (85-00962)	2420 Lincoln Way	Ames
Princess Theatre (85-00990)	115 Main St	Ames
Scenic Theater (85-00994)	121 Main St	Ames
Collegian Theatre (85-01049)	411 Main St	Ames
Opera Hall (85-01133)	233 Main St	Ames
Shattuck Theater (85-01459)	Wallace Rd	Ames
Maxwell Opera House (85-01670)		Maxwell
State Theatre (85-01681)	73 Main St	Maxwell
Camelot Theatre (85-01840)	1114 6th St	Nevada
Nevada Opera House (85-02005)	Lynn St	Nevada
Roland Opera House (85-02025)	217 Ash St	Roland
Grand Auditorium and Hotel Block (85-02243)	500 Broad St	Story City
Alderman Building - Palace Theater (85-03209)	1038 6th St	Nevada
Collins Theater (85-04389)	203 Main St	Collins
Cambridge Theatre (85-04390)	222 N Water St	Cambridge

16 theater(s) found in county search for story.

Follow the theaters links to see information about its history, current use(s), and historic status including whether it is listed on the National Register.

The project is continuing to look for information about the theaters it has identified and any that it has missed.  You can help them by adding to their survey as described in Get Involved on this page.

Also, be sure to check out the section labeled Extras.  This includes Iowans in Hollywood and Hollywood in Iowa.

Kelley Phone Booth Mural to Be Unveiled - August 9, 2010

One of Story County's most unusual historic landmarks is the phone booth in Kelley, Iowa.  One of the last working phone booths; it has been featured in the Des Moines Register, the Tri-County Times, and even has its own Facebook Fan Page.  The Kelley phone booth was the subject of a recent Register Kyle Munson column.

The Tri-County Times article reports on plans to unveil the Dick Shook mural commisioned by Huxley Communications.  The unveiling will be Monday, August 9, 2010, at 7:15 a.m. while WHO Radio personalities Van and Bonnie are broadcasting from the phone booth.