Bryantsburg 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 Buchanan 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. It is located on Highway 150 north of

Independence Independence is a condition of a 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 status of ...

and south of Hazleton.

Geography

Bryantsburg is located on Iowa State Highway 150, near the junction of 150th Street. It lies about north of the county seat of Independence.

History

Founded in the 19th century, the community was originally known as Bryant. Later, the name changed to Bryantburg (no 'S'). Bryantburg was a

flag station In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...

on the

Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At ...

; the depot was later upgraded to a full station, and by the early 1900s, Bryantburg was considered a "small town". Bryantsburg was once home to a bank,Bleakly, John L. (1914). ''Biennial Report of the Auditor of State to the Governor of Iowa'', p. 50. Robert Henderson Printer. schools, and a post office. Early postmasters in Bryantsburg included J. R. Cowell, A. Johnson, C. W. Cowell and J. M. Barclay. The post office was closed by 1925.Whitney, H.N. (1925). ''State of Iowa Official Register'', p. 647. Robert Henderson, Printer. Bryantsburg was the site of the Free Will Baptist Church, which originally held meetings in the southwestern part of Hazleton Township until 1900, when the church opened in Bryantsburg. In 1914, the church membership was around 50. The

operated until 1980, when it was liquidated. Bryantsburg's population was 41 in 1902, and 52 in 1925. In 1931, a major hailstorm in northeast Iowa damaged crops and farm products in the Bryantsburg area, as well as in Swisher, Shueyville, Vinton, Fairfax, and LaPorte City. The path of the storm began in Bryantsburg, and the damage in Buchanan County was extensive, accounted as a near total loss of crops. Poultry and pigs were also killed in the storm, which ranged from one to four miles wide in Buchanan County. The population was 25 in 1940. By the 1970s, Bryantsburg was included in a list of "dying towns" in the ''Waterloo Courier'', alongside Kiene, Albany, Buck Grove, Grove Hill, Abbott, Irma, Floyd Crossing, Kains Siding, Dalby, Merson,

Jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...

, and Deerfield. Many

Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...

families now live in the Bryantsburg area, which is near the Morwood Campgrounds.

References

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

Geography

History

See also

References