Bentonsport stands as a monument to Iowa ’ s early history
STORY BY DONALD A . PROMNITZ
T he Bentonsport of today is seen mostly as a tourist spot resting on the banks of the Des Moines River , just east of Keosauqua and northwest of Bonaparte . But in another life , Bentonsport was one of the fastest-growing towns in Iowa . It was a popular port for steamboats making their way through the river , and it was home to over 1,000 .
The current site is a preserved historical village , with houses and shops that predate the American Civil War . It ’ s a town that ’ s had special significance to author Lisa Schnedler , one that ’ s seen in her writing .
Schnedler and her future husband , Hal would visit the town when they were dating . After visiting with local artist Wendell Mohr in Vernon , they spotted a house across the river in Bentonsport — a house that was up for sale .
Schnedler left her home in St . Louis for a town of 37 inhabitants . Now , she was traveling 20 miles both ways to go to the store instead of going down the street . She used the experience to write her romance novels , “ Bentonsport : A Christmas Story ” and “ Bentonsport : A New Chapter ,” around the village and its community .
“ And so one time , I was walking down the road and thought about how people would feel who had lived there in the 1860s and 1870s , when it was a thriving river town ,” Schnedler said . “ How they would feel if they saw the town now — with far fewer houses and no mills on the river — kind of abandoned in some ways , and realized that they too would have that sense of alienation and not feeling that it was their home .”
However , while Schnedler ’ s writing reflects her initial alienation and how drastically Bentsonport is now from what it was in the 1800s , it also showcases why she came to love it .
“ Because I fell in love with the town and fell in love with the people and made it my home ,” Schnedler said . “ And just that bridge of people coming back from the past and seeing that the town was the way it was , but the town still had the spirit of the people waiting to create community .”
TOP : Historic Greef General Store , which sits overlooking the Des Moines River . BOTTOM : The Mason House Inn in Bentonsport . Built by Nauvoo Mormon pioneers in 1846 , the building was believed to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad , and served as a Union Army hospital during the Civil War . Photos by Donald Promnitz / The Ottumwa Courier
The perfect spot
The area that included what is today known as Van Buren County was acquired by the federal government with the Black Hawk Purchase of 1832 , following the United States ’ victory in the Black Hawk War . According to the 1878 book , “ The History of Van Buren County ,” the town of Bentonsport was laid out in 1839 by John Bending , along with associates Charles O . Sanford and H . P . Graves .
Named after Sen . Thomas Benton of Missouri , the stop on the river became known as Benton ’ s Port , then Bentonsport . A lock-and-dam system was constructed in the 1850s to let steamships pass
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