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Doris and Bethel are twin town sites in Buchanan County,
Galbraith's Rail Map of Iowa from 1897 shows no towns located between Independence and Winthrop. However, by the early 1900s, a number of Iowa newspapers were reporting on events occurring in Doris. A lot sale for plots of land in Doris was held by James Duffy in September 1902; a railroad station and stockyards had recently been completed. Farming activities in Doris were reported as late as 1939, but with increasing infrequency.
In 1917 the ''Waterloo Times-Tribune'' reported a story about two men fleeing from the law in Independence; the thieves were apprehended in Doris.
Doris was the site of a freight train collision on September 30, 1922, when a train leaving from Masonville rear ended another train at the Doris siding. The accident resulted in the death of one conductor and the injury of two others, and the derailment of both trains. Doris' population was listed as 12 in 1925, and 10 in 1940.
Bethel was the site of the Bethel Church of God, located in Section 31 of Byron Township; this church was open from 1855 to 1939. The church also had a cemetery. The church was also used for annual declamatory contests sponsored by the Buchanan County superintendent of schools.
The town sites were located three-fourths of a mile apart, Doris at the junction of Highway 939 and North Doris Avenue, an unimproved and unpaved gravel road located between Winthrop and Independence. Bethel was less than a mile west, near the intersection of 939 and Nathan Bethel Avenue. Both villages were populated during the early 20th century, but with the advent of
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
, United States, both located just north of Highway 939 in central Buchanan County near Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
. Founded as whistle-stops along the Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
, the sites are abandoned today.
History
Galbraith's Rail Map of Iowa from 1897 shows no towns located between Independence and Winthrop. However, by the early 1900s, a number of Iowa newspapers were reporting on events occurring in Doris. A lot sale for plots of land in Doris was held by James Duffy in September 1902; a railroad station and stockyards had recently been completed. Farming activities in Doris were reported as late as 1939, but with increasing infrequency.
In 1917 the ''Waterloo Times-Tribune'' reported a story about two men fleeing from the law in Independence; the thieves were apprehended in Doris.
Doris was the site of a freight train collision on September 30, 1922, when a train leaving from Masonville rear ended another train at the Doris siding. The accident resulted in the death of one conductor and the injury of two others, and the derailment of both trains. Doris' population was listed as 12 in 1925, and 10 in 1940.
Bethel was the site of the Bethel Church of God, located in Section 31 of Byron Township; this church was open from 1855 to 1939. The church also had a cemetery. The church was also used for annual declamatory contests sponsored by the Buchanan County superintendent of schools.
The town sites were located three-fourths of a mile apart, Doris at the junction of Highway 939 and North Doris Avenue, an unimproved and unpaved gravel road located between Winthrop and Independence. Bethel was less than a mile west, near the intersection of 939 and Nathan Bethel Avenue. Both villages were populated during the early 20th century, but with the advent of 
rural migration
Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...
to larger communities, the sites gradually emptied. By the 1990s, Bethel had lost all but a few scattered farmhouses. The town site at Doris is completely abandoned, and all the buildings there have long since been razed to make way for fields. Only a few scattered farms exist in the area.
References
Ghost towns in Iowa Geography of Buchanan County, Iowa 1902 establishments in Iowa {{US-ghost-town-stub