Almoral is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Oneida Township, Delaware County,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, United States.

Geography

The community is on county highway D13, north-northwest of Earlville.

History

The first white settler in Almoral was the Reverend James H. Kasson, who arrived in 1854. In 1856, his home was purchased by Congregationalists from Massachusetts, who hoped to establish a religious commune in the area. In 1857, Kasson

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted Almoral. A log cabin school and post office also opened that year. In 1858, the Almoral Institute, a high school, opened, closing in 1860. In 1871, that building became the Almoral Congregational Church. In 1872, arrangements were made where a Methodist congregation would alternate meeting every other sabbath with the Congregationalists; eventually, the Methodists moved to the congregation in nearby Earlville. A new school house replaced the original log cabin school in 1864. In 1876, a creamery opened in Almoral; a different creamery, operated by John Cruise, operated in later years. The

Chicago Great Western Railroad The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, and Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between Saint Paul, Minn ...

bypassed Almoral; a rail station and post office, named Almoral Siding or Almoral Station, opened about a mile south of Almoral, circa 1898. This post office closed in 1911. In Autumn 1902, a new Almoral Congregational Church was completed, replacing the original building; the building's dedication took place on February 3, 1903. Almoral's population was 26 in 1902. The Almoral post office closed in 1902, with the introduction of

rural free delivery Rural Free Delivery (RFD), since 1906 officially rural delivery, is a program of the United States Post Office Department to deliver mail directly to rural destinations. The program began in the late 19th century. Before that, people living in ru ...

; it reopened in 1912, and closed permanently in 1921. Almoral's population was 4 in 1940.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Delaware County, Iowa Unincorporated communities in Iowa

Geography

History

See also

References