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Additional information on the historical fraternal societies and lodge organizations of Garnavillo came to light when UNI student Maggie Glenn, of Iowa City chose to research these groups for her Public History Field Experience project.  The class requires students to spend 15 hours volunteering on a project in the public sector. Glenn spent 25 hours in […]

A family heirloom which was donated to the Garnavillo Historical Society Museum in 1966 has found new life thanks to the determination of David Beck and Jack Niewoehner of Elkader. The 1892 Concert Roller Organ became a source of musical entertainment in the Herman and Wilhelmina Schaefermeier home south of Garnavillo in the 1890’s. It

Did you know there were multiple fires on Main Street Garnavillo destroying historic businesses? What buildings are standing that date back to 1860 or further? Where was the Stetter and Tangeman Photograph Gallery located? Where was Garnavillo’s ballroom? Find the answers to these questions and learn more about the town of Garnavillo, Iowa in the

The late start to winter benefited the Garnavillo Historical Society’s tuckpointing project at the Clefisch Law Office, 108 S. Main Street, Garnavillo.  Kuempel Masonry, Guttenberg was contracted for the project and was nearly done before cold temperatures set in necessitating a plastic enclosure for working. J.O. Crosby and Alonzo Brown started building their ground level

Thanks to UNI student, Payton Marrs, visitors to Garnavillo’s historic Lodge Hall will know a little more when they leave about the fraternal societies that historically used the lodge hall for their meetings.  Marrs, from Urbandale, a sophomore at UNI in Cedar Falls, chose researching the fraternal societies for the Garnavillo Historical Society as his fall semester

St Joseph Parish Hall was the site of the Garnavillo Historical Society annual corporation meeting and appreciation supper held November 11. A light supper of sandwiches, chips and dessert was served to eighteen members and seven guests.  Following the meal, Board member, David Beck presented a brief program on digitizing glass negatives from the past. 

Concrete design remnants of the 1922 Garnavillo School building, demolished in 2015, found their way to the Garnavillo Prairie Winds Garden this summer through the efforts of the late Wayne Bacon, his wife Becky, Roger Balk, Chuck Lawson, Hank Werger and Carol DeSotel. After the merger of the Garnavillo and Guttenberg school into the Clayton

UNI student Jackson Miller, of Waterloo, recently completed a service project for the Garnavillo Historical Society.  Jackson, who is enrolled in the UNI History Department’s Public History Field Experience course (a service learning program for history majors) chose the Garnavillo Museum’s “Photography Exhibit Research” as his 2021 spring semester project.  Professor Barbara Cutter, associate professor