Historic photo of a flood that hit Bentonsport in 1851 .
Historic photo showing the flood of 1851 and how far it went up the walls of the Mason House Inn . On display at the inn .
through unimpeded , and Bentonsport and Bonaparte were the only places they could get the locks working . Water was the most reliable way to move from one place to another . And as a stop along the Des Moines , Bentonsport became a popular trading hub and a gateway to the West .
“ Bentonsport , southeast Iowa — that [ 40 ] -mile-wide strip along the Mississippi River … being the earliest settled part of Iowa — is a microcosm of the early settlement of the American West ,” said former Bentonsport resident Herb Shafer . “ Truthfully , this eastern edge of Iowa is the east coast of the western half of the United States .
Its location on the Des Moines also made it perfect for the construction of mills . As a result , business in the town boomed quickly , with five mills , a bank and stores going up .
“ It was that place to be about the time of the Civil War ,” said Shafer . “ It was really a very , very thriving community .”
Shafer , who was originally from Fairfield , had a father who loved history . It rubbed off on him .
The traffic from the steamboats and the opportunities generated by the mills meant the town ’ s population swelled . It was in contention to be the seat for Van Buren County , an honor that eventually went to Keosauqua . The river also made Bentonsport a popular trading hub .
Decline and preservation
In 1866 , the railroads were completed and traffic through the river came to a halt , which became unnavigable four years later . The locks failed , the mills came down , people left the town and Bentonsport deteriorated . Eventually , the only people there were those who — according to Shafer — “ didn ’ t want to be bothered .” But Shafer says that the poverty and deprivation of Bentonsport had a silver lining . It aided in its preservation .
“ A degree of poverty is one instrument of preservation in that when you don ' t have resource enough to build something fancy , new and sparkling modern , you keep repairing and catching and cleaning up and making do with the old that you already have ,” Shafer said So that actually is what helped preserve Bentonsport in many ways .”
Efforts to preserve Bentonsport got a big boost in 1972 , when the village was recognized as a U . S . Historic District on the Nation Register of Historic Places , spearheaded by the efforts of Norwood Teal , who headed the Van Buren County Conservation Board that purchased several buildings .
18 | Now & Then