ATLANTIC, THE BOOSTER TOWN

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF ITS PAST, THE PROSPERITY OF ITS PRESENT,
AND THE PROMISE OF ITS FUTURE

It is a far cry from the struggling village of 1869 and 1870, to the Atlantic of today, with its miles of paved streets, its modern lighting system, its many handsome and commodious homes and substantial business blocks, its sewerage and all the rest of the things which make life worth the living, and even as "Rome was not built in a day," so this fair city did not reach its present proportions in a single bound nor by any Alladin-like process did it achieve its present prosperity. The history of the progress of a town is a history of effort, ceaseless effort, and the metamorphosis from a crossroads is a story replete with incidents of tireless energy, boundless ambition and persistency of purpose.

FRANKLIN H. WHITNEY

FOUNDER OF ATLANTIC, IOWA

Click photo to enlarge

Atlantic was laid out in October, 1868, the site of the city at that time being the property of F. H. Whitney, B. F. Allen, John P. Cook and others, and the town plat was filed for record a short time thereafter. Additions were made to the town by Whitney, Dickerson, Keyes, Allen, Crawford and Morrison, Job Walker and others. The town was first called "Avoca," that being the name given it by the railroad civil engineer and is was [was] called "Avoca" for some days, but Mr. Whitney went to Des Moines and interviewed the powers that were and the name was changed to Atlantic. The town was incorporated in 1876 and the first town officers were D. F. Hawks, Mayor; A. S. Churchill, Recorder; S. A. Martin, W. U. Parker, John R. Reynolds, S. W. W. Straight and J. C. Yetzer, Trustees. I. N. Dickerson was Treasurer and I. N. Wittam, Corporation Counsel. From the struggling, yet industrious town Atlantic was in 1870, it has grown to be a city of about 5,500 inhabitants, and cheap homes and temporary business houses have been largely replaced by modern residences and substantial brick business blocks. The schools have kept pace with the growth of the city and there are now three large school houses, known as the East Side, the West Side and the Grant, which together with the High School, in the center of the city are used to accommodate the school population of the city, which, however, has increased to the extent that another school building will soon be necessary. In school matters Atlantic has never been niggardly, and the best of teachers, all under the supervision of carefully chosen superintendents and principals, have placed the Atlantic schools in the first rank of the schools of the state. The religious advantages have not been neglected in the growth of the city, as is evidenced by its splendid houses of worship, and the support they receive. All leading denominations are represented here. Catholic, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal, United Presbyterian, Christian, Danish Lutheran, German Lutheran, German Evangelical and the Seventh Day Adventists. Benevolent Societies have thrived also. The Masons own their own temple, the Odd Fellows their own Building, these being the largest buildings in the city, and the Elks have a splendid club house which will be enlarged some time in the not far distant future. The Y. M. C. A., while not now active, is also a thrifty organization and has money enough on hand to build a home of its own and will likely do so in the near future. In public buildings Atlantic has the Court House, erected at a cost of about $65,000, the Carnegie library, built in 1903 at a cost of $12,500, a government building for postoffice purposes which cost $35,000. The Rock Island railroad has a handsome depot at the foot of Chestnut street and the city owns its own buildings and Firemen's Hall.

Railroads.

Four lines of railroad enter the town, the Rock Island east and west, the Rock Island branch to Audubon, the Rock Island branch to Griswold and the A. N. & S. north to Kimballton and south to Villisca, where it connects with the Burlington.

Municipally Owned Utilities.

The city water and light plant, completed since the first of the year, at a cost of $50,000, furnishes an abundance of water supply and all the electric current which will be needed for light and power for years to come. An electrolier lighting system lights Chestnut, the main business street, and at night is it [it is] the prettiest street in the state.

Public Improvements.

Within the last few years the entire city has been covered with permanent sidewalks, nearly five miles of street paving have been done, the city has been entirely sewered with a sanitary sewer system and on all sides are the signs of activity in things of progress.

New Buildings.

Many handsome new homes have been erected during the past few years and the past two years have seen an activity in the erection of new business buildings unprecedented in any former space of time in the town's history. Among the new buildings built within the last three years are the National Bank, the Whitney Bank, the Farmers Savings Bank, the Needles building, the Fuhlendorf building, the Bradbury and Petit buildings, the Nels Brown building, the Johnson Automobile Garage, the new garage of the Atlantic Automobile Company, and many others. Buildings planned for the near future are many, among them being the remodeling of the H. W. Fulton building at Fifth and Chestnut streets into a modern structure, the erection of a new modern building where the frame now occupied by A. G. Beech stands, a possible apartment house or two, and the end is not yet. The spirit of progress is in the air and Atlantic, the Booster Town, is on the way to a population of 10,000, aided by the efforts of her Commercial Club, recently organized, with over a hundred members and a splendid home of its own over the Oransky store. Atlantic wants boosters. It wants "live ones" and offers to them a city, ideal in which to live -- a city glorious with the achievements of its past and the promise of the future.

From: Industrial Edition, published by Atlantic News Telegraph, Atlantic, Iowa, 1913, pg. 3-4. Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, August, 2012.

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