Roland Historical Society, 104 W Poplar, Roland, IA (2026)

10/12/2026

This Month in Roland History (October 1881) – 145 Years Ago

In the late 1870’s, Roland was a small collection of buildings located near the intersection of today’s Maple and Cottonwood Streets. The newly organized Bergen Lutheran congregation built their first church building here in 1874. A couple stores and blacksmith shop were located across the street to the south.

For new communities, the presence of a nearby railroad was crucial to stimulate business and development. In December 1880, landowners in Howard and Warren Townships approved a 3% property value tax levy with monies used to help the Central Iowa Railroad Company (CIRC) build a rail line through northern Story County.

Construction on the “Story City Branch” began in October 1881. The route began near Minerva Junction northwest of Marshalltown and followed Minerva Creek west/northwest to Clemons, Saint Anthony, and Zearing. The line continued to McCallsburg and over the rolling prairie to Roland. It continued west crossing Bear Creek and the Skunk River before entering Story City. The line ended there with a turntable built to allow trains to change directions and head east after finishing their western run.

When finished, the new CIRC branch line was a modest 34.5 miles long. However, it provided the towns of northern Story County a rail route to Marshalltown where connections with the main north/south Iowa Central line could be made. Marshalltown also had a major east/west rail line built in 1864 by the Chicago & Northwestern company which allowed the transfer of passengers and freight for east or west destinations.

The railroad stimulated construction of Roland’s Main Street with new businesses built near the new rail line. A depot was built in 1892. Grain elevators and a stockyard were built north of Ash Street to store agricultural produce before it was shipped to eastern markets. Butter, eggs, chickens, and canned vegetables were also exported. Sheds to store imported coal and lumber were built nearby. By 1891, two hotels had been built to provide housing for travelers. Four trains stopped in Roland each day. Mail arrived daily on the morning train.

While important, the local railroad was not without its critics. Its given nickname “Norwegian Flyer” was a cynical shot at the slow speed and tardiness of the trains. Passenger travel was not ideal as the “pigs and people” railcar configuration meant smelly travel. But despite its faults, the line connected Roland to the outside world.

The Iowa Central branch line was purchased by the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad in 1911 and the company provided service for 49 years. In 1960 the line was purchased by the Chicago & Northwestern company. By this time, use of trains was almost exclusively moving corn and soybeans from the nearby farmers’ cooperative grain elevators. Use of the rail line in Roland ended in 1977 with the tracks removed ending almost 90 years of rail service. A recreational trail (Praeri Rail Trail) was built on the portion of the line between Roland and Zearing.

10/01/2026

Roland's Historic Homes - October 2026 Edition

The land on which this lot sits was originally owned by pioneer Mikel Erickson who with his parents and siblings arrived in Howard Township in June 1856. Erickson sold much of his land for home sites as Roland grew. Erickson died in 1910 and in March 1912 his land holdings in what is now the northeast part of Roland were sold at auction. Erickson’s 200 acres were purchased by his son Jacob Erickson who had become a prominent businessman operating a grain buying and shipping business operating out of an elevator near the Iowa Central Railroad line on Ash Street.

In August 1912, Jacob’s Erickson’s sister Anna May Larson purchased this Erickson Street lot, which was just north of her brother’s newly built home at 413 E. Poplar Street. Anna married prominent Roland businessman James H. Larson who owned and operated the Roland lumberyard and was in a stakeholder in the local Farmers Savings Bank. He was also a city leader serving as mayor for eight years. Larson and his sons were also responsible for the organization of longtime local business Larson Drilling which is still in operation today.

Construction on the house began in summer 1916 with completion the following year. The house was home to Leonard Larson and his wife Gertrude (Molde). Leonard was the oldest son of James and Anna Larson and operated his father’s lumberyard and drilling business. Leonard and Gertrude left Roland in 1942, relocating to California.

In 1921, C.O. and Elsie (Smedal) Highland purchased the house. Highland was born on a farm north of Roland and was educated at local schools. He attended auctioneering school in Chicago and became a popular and successful auctioneer. Highland, also worked in real estate and insurance and owned farmsteads. He held positions of responsibility in the community and at Bergen Lutheran Church, where he was a lifelong member. Elsie was the daughter of Bergen Lutheran Pastor Gotfred Smedal who led the Bergen Lutheran congregation for 26 years.

Orvis and Mary Ann Anderson purchased the home in June 1959. Orvis (along with his father Otis) was the long-time owner of Roland’s Anderson Garage service station which operated out of buildings on Main and Poplar Streets from 1950 to 1967. Mary Ann was among a group of women that for many years owned and operated the popular Blue Onion Tea Room on the east side of Roland’s Main Street. The Andersons owned the Erickson Street house for 48 years selling it in 2007.

09/15/2026

This Month in Roland History – September 29, 1916 (110 Years Ago)

In late September 1916, the Roland School District held a dedication ceremony for their new school building. Main Street was decorated with flags and banners. Businesses closed in the afternoon so all could attend the dedication ceremony which featured an hour-long speech by Iowa Governor G.W. Clark. The celebration continued into the night with music and speeches. Roland’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams competed against teams from Story City in the new school’s basement gymnasium.

A new and larger school building was needed after a January 1915 election where voters approved the consolidation of the Roland Independent District with four rural Howard Township school districts. The proposal passed easily among Roland voters (117 YES, 6 NO), but the tally was much closer among rural voters (46 YES, 34 NO). Since both city and township voters approved the proposal, organization of the new Roland Consolidated School District moved forward.

Another special election was held on April 22nd, 1915, to seek approval for the issuing of $50,000 in bonds to construct a new school building. The Roland Record noted that Iowa women could now vote on bond issues (but not in elections when candidates were involved), and their impact would likely play an important part in the outcome. The bond proposal passed with 174 in favor and 98 opposed. It was noted that women approved the proposal with fifty-nine in favor and twenty-five against.

The chosen location for new school was a lot on the east side of South Main Street which was purchased from the Bergen Lutheran Church congregation. Construction began in June 1915 and continued until the summer of next year. The new building was a two-story brick structure with the west main entrance fronting Roland’s Main Street. Grade school classrooms were located on the first floor with high school on the second. The fully developed basement included a gymnasium with seating capacity of two hundred. It was hoped that besides athletics, the new gymnasium would be used for city gatherings and cultural events. Electricity would power all services including heated water for showers.

To transport rural students to town, six horse-drawn wagons were purchased from the Marshalltown Buggy Company. Each had the ability to hold twenty-four students and was enclosed with curtains during inclement weather. Hired wagon drivers were expected to furnish their own horses. The larger number of prospective students required the hiring of thirteen teachers to teach all grades and subjects with Professor Karl Hanson serving as school principal. Total district enrollment was three hundred students with seventy-one of those attending high school. First day of classes in the new school building was on Monday, September 4th, 1916.

Another example of the pride the community felt for the new building took place after the dedication ceremony. On October 9th, local farmers organized a “graveling bee” to improve the condition of roads around the school grounds. Twenty-seven horse and wagon teams hauled over 150 loads of gravel from a pit east of town and unloaded on the new streets. After the event, the high school domestic science class provided a chicken dinner for the volunteers which was paid for by Roland Mayor Shafland and the Roland Community Club.

The 1916 school building served the Roland community for almost 73 years until it was demolished in March 1989. The Roland-Story Middle School building was constructed in phases on the former 1916 school site with construction complete by August 1989.

09/06/2026

Today is the last official day the Roland Museum is open for this year. We are open from 1-4.
The barcode on our outside sign provides phone numbers of people to call if you would like to see the museum at a different time.
We have colorized note cards, Roland Rocket T-shirts and 2027 Roland Calendars with pictures of inside older Roland businesses for sale if interested. You will see posters of many Roland homes built in late 1800's - early 1900's along with their history. There is so much more to see also!

09/01/2026

Roland's Historic Homes
117 South Main Street – The Thompson House
Built 1894

The land on which this house sits was originally owned by pioneer Jonas Duea who arrived in Howard Township in June 1856. Duea eventually sold off land for home lots in the developing community of Roland. In July 1894, three lots were purchased by Torres & Anna (Gronstad) Thompson. The Thompsons emigrated to the U.S. from Norway in 1870 and purchased a farm southeast of Roland where they and their five sons lived. In the fall of 1894, foundation work on their new Roland home began with the project completed the next year. After moving into Roland, the family organized a Thompson & Sons butcher shop on Roland’s Main Street. After five years, Thompson retired leaving the butcher business to his son Edward (E.K.).

In July 1904, a large fire broke out overnight in Roland’s Main Street business district. Before a city fire department was organized, Roland residents were expected to help fight fires but had to be notified of the emergency. Upon learning about the Main Street fire, Torres Thompson crossed South Main Street in the middle of the night and rang the Salem Lutheran Church bell continuously to wake residents and alert them to the need for assistance.

In 1905, two Thompson sons (J.E. and pharmacist brother Oscar) organized Etna Drugstore, a Main Street pharmacy that served Roland for over 40 years. Brother Edward (E.K.) joined the enterprise later bringing a jewelry expertise to the business. The store was named after the area (Etne) in southwestern Norway where their parents and many other Roland residents had lived before emigrating to the United States After the death of Oscar, brother O.M. Thompson took over as the store pharmacist. Another son Tollef became one of the first rural U.S. mail delivery men for Roland driving his horse drawn mail wagon throughout the surrounding countryside.

Torres Thompson died in 1913. His wife Anna and some of her sons continued to live in their Main Street home. The house stayed in the Thompson family until 1962 when it was purchased by Harold & Frances (Teig) Lage. Lage moved to Roland from Hubbard and initially worked for Ames In-Cross. Later he operated an animal feed business and sold tropical fish. He served as Roland’s mayor for six years in 1959-1960 and 1966-1970.

08/24/2026

This Month in Roland History – One Room Schoolhouse Era Teachers

The attached photo has hung on our schoolhouse museum wall for as long as we can remember. The description says, “Amanda Thompson Severson – Taught school in this building”. Some research found a story of a young woman and the era of one-room schoolhouses.

Amanda (Mandy) Thompson was born near Roland in October 1881 to Henry and Caroline (Erickson) Thompson. Her paternal grandparents, Paul and Enger Thompson, were early Howard Township settlers, arriving in 1857. They established a farm south of Roland that grew to more than 500 acres, making it one of the area’s largest operations. Caroline Thompson died in March 1894, leaving 12-year-old Amanda and her younger sister, Emma, without their mother. In 1896, their father, Henry, married Sarah Watney. Together they had five sons (Paul, Elliott, Cyrus, Milton, and Irven) who became Amanda and Emma’s half-siblings..

Amanda Thompson attended Roland area schools and graduated from high school in 1899 among a class of nine students. During her school years, she spoke at community events, including Roland’s Memorial Day program and graduation ceremonies held at the Roland Opera House. After graduating, Thompson went to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to begin “normal” school, or teacher training, at the institution that later became the University of Northern Iowa. The program typically lasted about 12 weeks after which students were considered prepared to teach. Teaching had once been dominated by men, but the shortage of available male workers during the American Civil War opened the profession to women, who became critical to children’s education.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, rural townships oversaw public education, with several one-room schoolhouses in each township. Howard Township operated nine. In April 1901, Thompson began her first teaching term at the Jondall School and went on to teach in area one-room schools for six years. Each school typically enrolled 15 to 25 students in grades 1 through 8, all taught together in one room. In Iowa, school attendance did not become mandatory until 1902, and then only through age 14. Students who continued beyond eighth grade could attend high school in Roland or nearby communities.

Teachers were expected to model good character by attending church regularly and living virtuously. Beyond teaching, they were also responsible for tasks such as chopping wood, carrying coal, and arriving early on winter mornings to start the stove and warm the room.

In 1906, Amanda Thompson married Albert Severson, a college-trained pharmacist from Jewell. Because married women were generally not permitted to keep teaching, the marriage brought Amanda’s education career to an end. The couple lived in Jewell and Story City, where Albert managed local drug stores, and raised three children. In 1920, the Seversons moved to California, where they operated pharmacies in Huntington Beach and Long Beach. Amanda died in 1976 at age 95, remembered among the women who helped educate Howard Township’s early children.

08/14/2026

This Month in Roland History (August 8, 1896) – 130 Years Ago
On a hot Saturday evening in August, three Roland men went swimming in a clay pit made by a nearby tile factory. The site was southwest of Roland near Bear Creek and today’s wastewater treatment facility. Lewis Shafland and George Holland entered the water first, followed by George Nockling, who soon disappeared. Shafland and Holland searched desperately but could not find him. Two young boys ran for help, and others soon joined the rescue effort. After an extensive search, Nockling’s body was recovered. Roland’s Dr. Rice was present, but the 25-year-old could not be saved.

George Nockling was born in 1871 on Bømlo Island in southwestern Norway. In February 1891, at age 19, he immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago, where he learned photography. In October 1893, he moved to Roland to join his older brother, Paul, who had arrived earlier. Paul owned a construction business and built many of the early concrete bridges in Story and Hamilton counties, some of which are still in use today.

By December 1894, George Nockling had opened a successful photography studio on Roland’s Main Street. Customers came for portraits and family group photographs, and Nockling also traveled through the countryside to photograph homes, farms, and events. Well regarded in Roland, Nockling produced some of the earliest images of the town and its residents. In 1896, he created perhaps his best-known photograph by climbing a grain elevator to capture an iconic overhead view of Roland’s busy, growing Main Street.

Nockling’s funeral was held at Salem Lutheran Church, whose sanctuary had been moved into town six years earlier. One of the largest crowds in early Roland history attended, and many stood outside when seats ran out. The service was conducted in both English and Norwegian. A severe thunderstorm interrupted the service, sending everyone into the church until it passed. Nockling was buried in Roland Cemetery, with the graveside service concluding just before another round of storms arrived. His brother Paul continued living and working in Roland until 1915, when he returned to his native Norway.

The Roland Historical Society does not have a photograph of George Nockling, We do have several examples of his work, which offers a glimpse of early Roland and its people. After his death, his assistant Dora Storaker took over the photography business—a story for another time.

08/02/2026

Roland’s Historic Homes
118 South Linn Street – The Boyd House
Built 1914

The land on which this house sits was owned by the I.J. Grindem family who sold it for building lots beginning in the 1890’s. In 1913, Otis & Olive Boyd purchased the lot from Christ Hall and made plans to build a house there. Construction on the house began in the spring of 1914 with local builders Jondall & Mehus overseeing the job. The Boyd family moved into the house in November 1914.

Otis S. Boyd was born on a farm near Roland in 1873. His mother (Julia Duea) was the oldest daughter of Jonas and Martha Duea who were among the first group of settlers arriving in Howard Township in June 1856. Boyd graduated from Roland High School and Iowa State College with a bachelor’s degree in science. He returned to Roland where he spent his entire life. In 1900 he married Mattie Gaard, but she died two years later. In 1905 he married Olive Hegland and the couple had six children.

Throughout his career, Boyd held positions of public trust including principal and superintendent of the Roland school system from 1901-1903. He was a cashier and bookkeeper at the Farmers Savings Bank for twenty-four years. Boyd later organized an accounting and insurance business working out of a Main Street building. The business eventually included Boyd’s son Don as a partner. Boyd’s grandson Bill Boyd continues to operate the business.

O.S. Boyd served on the Roland school board and was the first president of the Story City Old People’s home which later became Bethany Manor. He and his wife were talented musicians and performed at hundreds of local social gatherings and religious events. They served as choir directors for Salem Lutheran Church for twenty-five years. Their son Don took over after his parents retired and served for an additional 40 years.

In 1933, the Boyds sold the house to C.A. and Jullath (Hoversten) Fagerland. Fagerland served in World War I and after returning from Europe became a Roland barber who cut hair for 60 years before retiring at age 88. He was also known for his extensive collection of pencils (approximately 10,000) which he displayed in the basement of his barber shop. Fagerland was also a former Roland mayor and a Story County Deputy Sheriff. The Linn Street house stayed with the Fagerland family until 1990.

07/29/2026

Visit our Roland Days booth in Erickson Park on Saturday, August 1st! See our history display and buy some Roland merch!

07/20/2026

This Month in Roland History (July 18,1981) – 45 Years Ago

A large crowd gathered at the north end of Roland’s Erickson Park to dedicate the new Praeri Rail Trail. Built on an abandoned railbed, the 10.5-mile public walking and biking trail runs east/west and connects Roland, McCallsburg, and Zearing. Following several speakers, attendees had the one-time opportunity to drive along part of the trail for a closer look at the new linear county park.

In 1881, the Iowa Central Railroad built a 35-mile branch line west from the main line in Marshalltown to Story City. Multiple daily trains transported grain, produce, coal, lumber, and passengers to and from northern Story and Marshall Counties. The railroad transported area produced cattle, hogs, chickens, butter, and eggs to the Chicago market. The railroad stimulated Roland’s growth and the town’s business district shifted to newly built Main and Ash Streets near the tracks. Later owned by the Minneapolis & St. Louis and Chicago/Northwestern railroads, the rail line served the area for more than 90 years. The section between Story City and Roland was abandoned in 1952, followed by the line into Roland in 1975.

In 1978, the Chicago/Northwestern Company announced plans to sell the abandoned railroad bed property. Under a recently enacted federal law, local governments had priority in purchasing abandoned rail lines. After a long series of meetings and discussions, the Story County Board of Supervisors and Story County Conservation Board each purchased portions of the line between Roland and Zearing. The action proved contentious as some landowners adjacent to the line wanted to purchase the railbed for their own use. A Story County Supervision’s vote in January 1979 finalized the property acquisition with the intention to create a public park, trail, and wildlife refuge. A portion of the acquired property was later used to straighten County Road E18 between Roland and McCallsburg.

Most of the work preparing the trail took place in 1980, when rail ties and other materials were removed from the railbed. The trail was leveled and covered with cinders to create a usable surface. Bridges were built over East Indian and Minerva Creeks. A public trail naming contest initially selected “Hook and Eye” as the trail name, using the nickname for the Iowa Central Railroad who built the original line, but county officials later changed it to “Praeri Rail Trail,” using the Norwegian word for prairie to pay respect to the area’s early Norwegian settlers. The trail is still in use and offers walking or biking opportunities to area residents while keeping a reminder of the importance of railroads to early Roland intact.

Roland Historical Society

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