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a thriving manufacturing center. Besides the Association, the hotel houses the town library and Van Buren a church, cabin and store. A
pottery and Meek’s mills, the town manufac- and historical museum (Sheets 2007:21–22). stone grist mill was also built nearby. When the
tured carriages, cigars, and men’s pants (Sheets Original architectural features which can still be Wisconsin territorial government established
2007:21). seen include the wood flooring, chair rails, wal- Keosauqua as the county seat for Van Buren
Banks, hotels, an opera house, and other busi- nut staircase, two fireplace mantles, and a stone County in 1837 the settlers of Keosauqua and
nesses grew up alongside manufacturing. Among fireplace in the basement. As one of Iowa’s old- Des Moines decided to combine the two towns
these was the Aunty Green Hotel. Built in 1841, est structures, the hotel was nominated to the (Anderson 2004:14–15).
just three years after the town was laid out, NRHP in 1978 and stands as a testament to what
the two story hotel was the first brick building concerned citizens can accomplish for historic In January 1839, the Wisconsin Territorial Leg-
in Bonaparte. It was built and operated by an preservation (Warner 1978). islature passed an act that continued the town’s
English immigrant, John Green. His wife Mary position as county seat. As county seat and
took over the business after John’s death and it The entire Bonaparte Riverfront area is an illus- trading center, the town drew business from the
became popularly known as “Aunty Green’s Ho- tration of how major businesses influenced the rural farms and other villages throughout the
tel” (Warner 1978:3). The hotel was nearly de- economic development of a town. It is consid- area. Edwin Manning built a two story mercan-
molished in 1971, but local residents organized to ered representative of the small 19th century tile store on the site of John Silver’s first cabin
acquire the property and restore the structure. riverfront communities that were integral in in 1839. The beautiful County Courthouse was
Now administered by the Bonaparte Historical the development in the Des Moines River valley built in 1843, and Manning’s store expanded to
between 1887 and 1909 and was placed on the include a bank in 1854. The Des Moines River
Van Buren County Courthouse, Keosauqua, Iowa. National Register as an Historic District in 1989 navigation project also completed Lock and Dam
(Naumann 1989). The district includes thirty- #7 at Keosauqua in 1854. Edwin Manning owned
eight key resources and twenty-five contributing and operated several steamboats and became
resources (Naumann 1989:3). the official supplier of goods to the Fort on the
junction of the Raccoon River and Des Moines
KEOSAUQUA – 1839 River (Woodruff 1972: 2; Anderson 2004:16–
17; Sheets 2007:46). Streets along the river front
The Van Buren County seat, Keosauqua, was were crowded with businesses. Keosauqua still
established in 1839 at an important river cross- has a number of structures from this boom pe-
ing point on the big horseshoe bend of the river. riod. Many of these are on the NRHP. Included
This was reported to have been the site of the are the Manning Hotel, County Courthouse,
first claim in the county staked by John Silvers Twombly Building, and Pearson House.
in 1835. At this location, the Des Moines River
runs over bedrock and can easily be forded in Hotel Manning
low water conditions. Two small villages had
already been established in the area, one named The Hotel Manning was built in the late 1890s
Des Moines and another named Van Buren. Des on the site of one of the worst fires in Keosau-
Moines boasted a stone hotel and livery stable qua history. The fire destroyed two blocks of
The University of Iowa Off ice of the State Archaeologist 43
