Abandoned Towns & Villages  -  La Crew, Lee County Iowa

Standing at the intersection of 160th Ave & 160th Street is a plot of land in a sizable grove of tall, slender trees.  This one acre site marks the location of LA Crew, one of Lee Co.'s vanished towns

In March of 1881 the Bonnell Brothers and J.W. Powell hired county surveyor James Davis to lay out the town in the northwest corner of Franklin Township.  The Bonnells, who owned a large amount of land nearby undoubtedly hoped to capitalize on the coming of the St. Louis and Northwestern Railroad, for its track would pass along the east side of the proposed town.  It was an ambitious undertaking, at least on paper, and the original plat consisted of four blocks containing 41 lots, with a Main St. (now 160^th St.), bisected by three side streets:  First (now 160^th Ave.), Second, and a diagonal Third St.  Just why the Bonnells, who came to Iowa from New Jersey, chose the unusual name of La Crew for the town is unknown.  A 1929 article in the Annals of Iowa suggests the name might have derived from the French La cru, meaning the ground, or site. 

Most new towns in 19^th century Iowa hoped to achieve recognition through the establishment of a post office.  This step had already been accomplished for La Crew by the time of the survey.  A post office was established there March 21, 1881 with Henry Hyatt the first postmaster.  This was a full year before the town plat was officially filed for record.  As might be imagined, with such a well planned start the town started to grow immediately.  There was a hotel, two general merchandise stores, a blacksmith shop, a grain elevator, and a small, but impressive, railroad station.

 A log cabin school house called the Hazel Dell School, served as a community building and functioned as a social center for the town and nearby farms.  But the most popular sites for informal gossip were around the big heating stoves at the Miller and Aldrich general stores.  When the railroad from Keokuk to Mt. Pleasant passing through La Crew became a part of the CB&Q, it was known as the “K” line.  It carried a daily train fondly known as “Old Jerky”, and the highlights of the day in La Crew were the arrival of this northbound train from Keokuk, and on its return trip from Mt. Pleasant,         “Old Jerky” carried both baggage and mail, as well as freight and passengers, and served as a lifeline to the outside world for the little settlement.                                                      

Life in the village of La Crew was comfortable.  As long as the railroads were the mainstay of public transportation, and personal travel was measured by the distance a horse could go in one day, it continued that comfortable existence.  The beginning of the end for the village came when Henry Ford’s “Tin Lizzie” introduced affordable transportation to small towns.  Shopping trips to Keokuk and Ft. Madison could then be made with some degree of comfort, and the stores of La Crew began to suffer.  Motor vehicles even resulted in the closing of La Crew’s post office in 1913 when residents began receiving their mail by rural route from West Point.  The death blow for the community occurred in 1932 when the “K” line branch of the railroad was abandoned.  Without a railroad and lacking a paved road or major highway, the community began to wither until only Emil Miller’s old store remained standing lonely and forlorn beside the intersection.[1]

 In August 2000, the abandoned intersection located in the northwest corner of Franklin Township again saw activity when it was donated to the Lee County Conservation Board (LCCB) for a roadside park.  The new lease on life happened after Seeley Lodwick of Wever, IA, and his sister, Martha Chambers of St. Charles, MO bought the property from Dean Miller of Peoria, IL.  Like many, the siblings have family ties to the town.  Their mother, whose maiden name was Seeley, was born in La Crew.  Under La Crew LLC the one and a half acre site was cleaned up, the trees trimmed, poison ivy cleared, and abandoned wells capped; the Houghton Fire Dept burned piles of undergrowth, and a weed spraying specialist was hired to keep growth down.  On this special day, or as named on the dedication program, “Do at La Crew”, more than 200 people turned out for the dedication.  According to Dean Miller the turnout was more than the total population of La Crew during its comfortable and quiet existence.  People brought letters and other related mementos such as clothing, work tools or equipment from the time when the town prospered.  In addition, other activities included the display of old maps, articles and other memorabilia of the community and its era.  Floyd Hohl provided wagon rides in a 125 year old covered wagon which his father and grandfather had used to haul grain.

 La Crew is the third park owned by the LCCB with historical significance.  The park is in a lovely grove of trees and as Lodwick said of the current spot, “It is a pretty place in memory of Nana’s home.”[2]

 
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[1] Courtesy of the Daily Democrat and newspaper columnist Jerry Sloat,
3/28/2000