Ames Historical Society Has New Old Town Brochure

The Ames Historical Society has a new brochure showing many of the historic houses of the Old Town Historic District.  This 28 page PDF describes the history of many houses in the area between 7th and 9th Streets from Duff to Clark.Avenues.  This 12 block area was designated a local historic area in 1989 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.  The pictures and description show the history of homes in Ames from the 1870's to the mid-1920's.  Included in the brochure is a suggested walking tour.

The link to the 26 MB PDF can currently be found on the main Ames Historical Society page.  If this changes, we'll add the new information here.

Ames Historical Society 2012 Lecture Series

The 2012 Ames Historical Society Lecture Series begins Tuesday, January 31, 2012, at 7 p.m. with Outside In: African-American History in Iowa by Hal Chase.  This and the other lectures in the series will be at the Ames City Auditorium, 520 Sixth Street  A $2 freewill donation is requested at the door to assist with auditorium rental.

The subsequent lectures in the series are:

• Iowa in the Civil War by  O. J. Fargo February 28
• Trains Across Iowa by Rudolph Daniels March 27
• From Small Town to the Big Top: the Leininger Sisters Join the Circus by Zellettia Leininger Streit April 24

All are at 7 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month.

Additional details of these lectures is available at the Ames Historical Society website.

Gilbert - First Museum Work Day - January 21, 2012

Congratulations to the Gilbert Historical Society on their museum!  To help prepare it, they are having their first Museum Work Day on Saturday, January 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Everyone is invited to help out with general cleaning and preparing the walls and surfaces for painting.

Huxley - Meeting Schedule and Website Address Update

The web address for the Huxley Historical Society has changed with the new website for Huxley, Iowa.  It can now be found at http://history.huxleyiowa.org/  (previously a www. was required; now that redirects to the city's homepage).  Please update your links.  (We have updated the link in our sidebar.)

Their meetings are usually held at City Hall and generally start at 6:30 on the last Monday of the month. Feel free to call 515-231-9174 for more information.

Gilbert - Next Meeting January 12, 2012

The next meeting of the Gilbert Historical Society will be Thursday, January 12, 7 p.m. at the Gilbert Lutheran Church.  We will be discussing moving forward with the museum.