Hanover Historical Village

[Abby Brown] You've heard your grandparents and your teachers talk about how things are so different now compared to the good old days, right? Well, there's a place in Northwest Iowa where you can see and even touch some important parts of those good old days.

(Abby holds her hands up making air quotes as she says “good old days”.)

(Map marking Buena Vista County in northwest Iowa.)

(A team of two horses pulls a buggy on a gravel road.)

A long time ago, people didn't have cars. So in rural areas of Iowa, they often took a horse and buggy to see friends and family in another town.

But what about groceries or farm equipment that you might need? There were no cars. People couldn't just order all the supplies that they need and expect them to show up the next day. No. People had to get up and go get the supplies they needed for themselves.

For three lucky towns in Iowa, there was a nearby village that had it all, and it was only 8 or 9 miles away. And lucky for us, the village is still here. It's called the Hanover Historical Village, and provides a convenient way for visitors to feel like they're traveling in time.

This general store was built in 1890 and didn't officially close until 1968.

(Inside, a long counter and open-faced, wooden bookshelves are to the right. Two glass display cases and a vintage cash register sit on the counter. In the middle of the room is a cast iron wood burning stove with a stove pipe that curves up into the ceiling.)

It's currently set up to look like it might have in the horse and buggy days when people came

here to buy groceries,

sewing supplies,

tools,

and even candy.

(Different vintage boxes of candies sit inside of a glass case.)

The post office was located inside the general store in the old days too.

(A shelf with rows of small cubbies sits against the wall. Some of the cubbies have papers in them.)

It was a one stop shop for almost anything anyone needed.

The blacksmith shop was built in the early 1900s and was important to the community because that was where tools, buggies and wagons were made and fixed.

In more recent years, other buildings have been added to the village to widen visitors’ view on the history of the area, such as the Pioneer Barn.

There's a hayloft, tools and a chicken coop to showcase how a barn like this would have been used in the pioneer days.

The machine shed has several pieces of antique agriculture equipment and a unique rope system to move machinery to the second floor.

The mill house is where livestock feed was ground.

And the sawmill is where large logs were cut into usable planks of wood.

There's even a windmill, which was used to pump water to the house and to the livestock.

And several other buildings too.

Visitors can call ahead and make special arrangements for a tour of Hanover Historical Village.

Every county in Iowa has spoken and written histories that give us a peek to their past. But here in Buena Vista County, we get to experience history firsthand when we visit Hanover Historical Village.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.