Pie Fundraiser for Maxwell Museum - Order Deadline November 9, 2024

Needing pies for your upcoming holidays? We partner with Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge each year to fundraise for the museum. Delicious desserts include pumpkin pie, apple pie, apple crisp, and new this year pumpkin roll!!!! All made from scratch and local! Don’t forget their hearty chicken pot pie (1-2 servings). If you are interested please follow this link to order online or reach out to Kelly (515-450-3529) to place an order. For an additional $10 donation Kelly (treasurer) will meet any of you from here to Story City :)

Please note: pies MUST be picked up in Maxwell on November 25 from 4-6, unless you are going with the delivery donation, and payments must be received by 11/9. Thank you for your support and happy holidays!

Story County Historical Alliance Spring Meeting - April 11, 2024 in Colo

                                     

Story County Historical Alliance Annual Spring Meeting to be held at the Colo Community Center (309 Main Street) at 10:00 AM, Thursday, April 11th. Come earlier for coffee, and see the Colo Museum at the Reed Station afterwards. 

 Then if so inclined, have lunch at Niland's Cafe!

Story City Winter Dinner & Presentation - Postponed to January 25, 2024

 

Updated - Now January 25

 

We hope you can join us at Fairview Lodge on Thursday, January 25. A free-will donation soup and chili dinner will be provided, including mild and spicy chili, cheeseburger chowder, minestrone, baked potato soup, bread, and desserts. 

Following the meal will be a presentation by Jennifer Kovarik, Collection Manager at the Vesterheim Museum:

A Dream of Milk and Honey: Sharing Immigration Stories Through Animation. Learn how Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum used objects and stories in its collection as the basis for an international partnership to create a stop-motion animated film made by students on both sides of the Atlantic. The film project, which included partners in the United States, Norway, and Italy, was part of a larger program to promote conversations about and encourage empathy for enduring opportunities and challenges of immigration world-wide. Over 200 students used 19th century Norwegian immigration stories, objects, and historic photographs from the collections of Vesterheim Museum and cultural organizations in Fredrikstad, Norway, to inspire the film’s storyline, characters, and scenery and to build empathy for contemporary immigrants and migrants in the U.S. and Europe. Learn about the risks and rewards of navigating this collaboration on two different continents in both physical and digital spaces and enjoy viewing the 25-minute film.

Dinner will be served from 5:30-6:15pm with the presentation immediately following.

New Slater Exhibit -Stories of Our Vietnam Veterans

 

The Slater Area Historical Association invites you to the opening reception for Stories of Our Vietnam Veterans.  Join us Sunday, November 12, 2023 at 2 p.m.  Learn more about the exhibit.

Story City Historical Society Fall Dinner - September 21, 2023

 

Join us at Fairview Lodge on Thursday, September 21 as we learn more about DNA and genealogical research! Dana Kelly, the executive director of the Norwegian American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library, will be presenting at the Story City Historical Society’s Fall Dinner. A free-will donation Norwegian themed dinner will be served, including meatballs, mashed potatoes, and desserts. Dinner will be served from 5:30-6:30 with the presentation immediately following.

DNA can be a powerful tool for genealogy, but it isn’t intuitive to use the way more traditional genealogy sources can be. During this presentation we will explore using DNA to confirm your traditional research methods led you to the right people and show how DNA can be used to discover previously unknown ancestors.

Dana Kelly serves NAGC as the Executive Director. She oversees the daily operation of the center and is active in outreach activities and educational programming. An avid genealogist, her first experience with the center was as a member researching her family 20 years ago. Dana’s passion for family history led her to a Scandinavian Studies degree from UW-Madison where she learned to speak, read and write Norwegian. She has served on the board of directors for the Koshkonong Prairie Historical Society since 2009 and is a member of several Norwegian cultural and genealogical organizations including Sons of Norway, Vesterheim, Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study, Dane County Area Genealogical Society, and International Society of Online Genetic Genealogists.

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Kate Feil

Director

Story City Historical Society

Story City's Winter Soup Supper and Story County Ghost Towns Presentation - January 24th

 

Join us at Fairview Lodge on Tuesday, January 24th for the Historical Society's Winter Dinner and Presentation. A free-will donation soup and chili dinner will be provided, including spicy chili, broccoli & cheese soup, minestrone, baked potato soup, chicken noodle, ham & veggie soup, Norwegian flat bread, and desserts.

Following the meal will be a presentation by Dave Baker of The 29th State:
Bloomington. Ontario. New Albany. Palestine. They are among the names still somewhat familiar to many residents of Story County, but not everyone necessarily knows their significance. These places were among the more than a dozen communities that were founded, thrived, and ultimately faded into obscurity over the last one hundred and seventy five years. Ghost towns often conjure up images of the old west: abandoned buildings, empty mines, and dirt roads. In Iowa--a land of snow, rain, tornados, and derechos, ghost towns are usually only noted in memory, the physical evidence long eradicated. Dave Baker, essayist and historian for The 29th State has spent more than a decade studying both the extant cities and ghost towns of Iowa and seeking to find why some towns disappeared while others did not. With humor, historical insight, and a variety of interesting sources Dave will bring Story City a presentation of Story County ghost towns along with the tales that bring these former villages to life. Additionally Dave seeks to define what a community is, how we can build community in the 21st century, and how we might use our local history to build a better future.

Dinner will be served from 5:30-6:30pm
Welcome and announcements 6:30pm
Presentation 6:35pm

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Kate Feil

Director

Story City Historical Society

619 Grand Ave, P.O. Box 104

Story City, IA 50248

515-460-1749

Story City's Downtown Business District Historical Project

 We have discovered over 900 businesses in the 2 blocks of downtown Story City from the late 1800s to current! The first address that will be made live on our website is 602 Broad St. Which housed the Pioneer Store for many years and most recently Norsemen Realty and Reliance State Bank. We will be posting new addresses at least once a week. Click the link to learn more about all of the businesses at 602 Broad: 
http://www.storycityhistory.org/602-broad-st.html

See all the locations as they are added starting here:  http://www.storycityhistory.org/downtown-business-project.html