Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
DOWNTOWN DUNDEE
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The town has gone through some changes since 1887. This is an old picture of the town back in the horse-and-buggy days. Since then the town has gone through some changes just like any other town.
The first store built has been renovated to its original look. Downtown lighting is provided by new turn-of-the-century street lamps.
The old bank, hotel and telephone buildings are still standing. The old bank has been renovated and is now the Dundee Bar and Grill. They still have the same fish fry every Friday night.
Some of the buildings are used as homes for local residents.
Businesses include a building material supplier, auto repair, auto sales, engine and transmission repair, A-Z Snacks and a beauty shop. Sandwiches are served daily at the tavern. The Post Office is located on Center Street across from the Dundee Bar and Grill. St. John's Lutheran Church is also located in Dundee.
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| Located South of the business district is a 4-plex Senior Citizen housing. The building was built in 1983 at a cost of $82,000. Glenn and Jim Puffett donated the lot for the project. |  |
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Many years ago this area was known as Gilbert's Park, named after the Gilbert family of Dundee. Old timers tell of the big picnics and ice cream socials held here. In 1962 the town acquired the property. The shelter house and fireplace was constructed in 1981 at a cost of $10,000. Much of the construction was done by volunteer labor. |
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| The Veterans Memorial Monument was built in 2013 and contains 193 named bricks representing the Veterans from the Dundee area, dating back to the Civil War. This is located in the southwest corner of the city park. |
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| The Delaware County Freedom Rock is located in the northwest corner of the city park and was painted in 2019. |
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According to the research of records, the Dundee Wesleyan Methodist Church was started in 1897 and was dropped from the listing in 1948. Around 1944 the church was joined with the Manchester Church. In the beginning the Dundee Church and Masonville Churches were listed together.
The Manchester Press - October 25, 1894: "We are requested to announce there will be dedicated at Dundee, on Friday, November 9, a Wesleyan Methodist church building. The service will be conducted by Prof. A. R. Dodd, Earl Platt, Illinois. The public is respectfully invited to be present." Baptisms took place at the Maquoketa River. The church was located on the south side of Second Street, a half block west of the brick schoolhouse. The parsonage was the house now owned by Mabel Murphy on the northeast corner of Center and Fourth Streets. |
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The following story about the Dundee Grange appeared in The Manchester Press:
"The Dundee Grange is one of the live organizations of its kind in the county, and was organized in February, 1941, at the village schoolhouse by Deputy James Carradus of the Masonville Grange. Dean Sauerbry was elected as the first master at that time. For a year, meetings were held at the school and then at the homes of the members until 1949. In the latter part of the year, quarters were found in the Goldsborough building. The Dundee Grange purchased the closed Methodist Church building in 1952 which will afford enlarged space. In addition to holding bi-monthly meetings in it, the building will be used for community events in which attendance is not restricted to members of the grange. A kitchen will be installed at a future date, as well as some remodeling."In the 1950s the grange building was used to have dances for the local teenagers. In 1972 it was torn down after it was no longer used by the grange members. The Dundee Grange disbanded in 1980. |
| On June 28, 1899, the lot for the first schoolhouse was sold by H. D. Wood to the Independent School District of Pleasant Hill for $40. A wooden structure was built and was located on the northeast corner of Iowa and Third Streets. The school was sold in 1915 and converted into a residence. A brick schoolhouse was built at a new location at a cost of $7,000. Due to overcrowding, a large brick addition was built in 1936. |  The old brick schoolhouse.
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The new addition, costing $52,000, increased the size of the former building by two-thirds. The gymnasium, with a floor space of 52x72 feet, could seat 300 people. It fulfilled the need for a suitable place for athletics and a modern hall for school and social purposes. Previously athletic practice had been held out-of-doors. A new high school assembly room, two new classrooms, a lunch room, modern showers, locker rooms, a new heating plant, additional basement space, and a stage in the gymnasium were among the many improvements. On July 1, 1959, the newly formed West Delaware County Community School District went into operation. Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 from Dundee and other schools in the area were bused to Manchester in the fall to attend the West Delaware High School. In May 1981 the Dundee school was closed and all the students are bused into the West Delaware Schools in Manchester. The school is no longer standing. It was torn down in 2019. |
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The ball diamond was located behind the school and is used on a regular basis. Most weekends you could see a tournament going on behind the school. The school has since been torn down, but there's been many additions to the ball diamond, including new dughouts and a concession stand with restrooms. A new scoreboard was added and dedicated to Larry Guenther and Mr. Joe Keith. Mrs. Neoma Guenther (Larry's mother) and Mr. Keith were on hand to see the dedication of the new scoreboard. Larry Guenther put up the original scoreboard and later was killed in a tractor accident when he was 15 years old. The town decided to name the ball diamond Larry Guenther Field. Mr. Keith was very active in teaching baseball and softball to boys and girls for many years so they named it Joe Keith Diamond. He was also a teacher in the West Delaware School district. |
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| The Maquoketa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 150 miles long, in northeastern Iowa in the United States. Its watershed covers 1,694 square miles within a rural region of rolling hills and farmland southwest of Dubuque. Its name derives from Maquaw-Autaw, which means "Bear River" in Meskwaki. |  Maquoketa River near Dundee.
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The Maquoketa rises in southeastern Fayette County just southwest of Arlington in Fairfield Township, and approximately 10 miles east of Oelwein. It flows briefly northeastward, then generally southeastward through Clayton, Delaware, Jones and Jackson Counties, through Backbone State Park and the towns of Dundee, Manchester and Monticello. The Maquoketa flows generally eastward in a meandering course as it approaches the Mississippi. It enters the Mississippi from the southwest in eastern Jackson County a few miles upstream from Sabula approximately 30 southeast of Dubuque. The river is considered on of the best smallmouth bass and trout fisheries in Iowa. The railroad used to pass through Dundee. The only remnants of the Chicago Great Western railroad is the column where the railroad bridge crossed over the river. |
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Last Modified: 07/04/21
This page created by Dundee's own
Lisa Guenther-Rhoades