1875 Town

The town of Walnut Hill represents a post-Civil War community in the Iowa farm belt. The major interpretive theme of the town is the interdependence between farmers and the craftsmen and merchants of the town. The 1875 town of Walnut Hill is a supply center for the farmers in the surrounding area.

In Walnut Hill, several craftsmen have opened shops. There is Matthias's Blacksmith Shop, Beem's Broommaker, and Schuetzen's Cabinetmaker. The latter also serves as the village undertaker through his role in the construction of wooden caskets. Greteman Brothers General Store is stocked with many reproductions of 1875 items and has a large inventory of small items for sale. The town also includes the Walnut Hill School, Dr. Armstrong's Office, Taylor's Law Office, Heck Vet Clinic, Walnut Hill Bank, The Advocate Newspaper, Mrs. Elliott's Millinery, Schafer Drug Store, The Church of the Land, New Hope Cemetery, Tangen Implement Warehouse and the Tangen Family Home. The Italianate Victorian Flynn House and adjoining Flynn Barn were built in 1870. Both structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the 1875 town, you can see evidence of the Industrial Revolution in the mass-produced furniture of the upper-class home, the factory goods in the general store, and the labor-saving machinery in the carpenter's shop. When railroads arrived at towns like this, the craftsmen gradually disappeared, being undersold by eastern factories, and the towns shifted even more heavily to service and retail functions. The railroad will always be a few years away for Walnut Hill.

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