The Library Remembers When...

From the Ipswich Tribune August 22, 1929 edition

HOW IPSWICH WAS NAMED

The following account of “How Ipswich Was Named” is taken from the August 19, 1909 issue of the Edmunds County Democrat. We thought it would be of interest to our readers, especially the youthful citizens of Ipswich.

F. W. Kimball who was the engineer early lines in South Dakota was in charge of the construction of all the Pierre last week on a visit to relatives and was induced by the department of history to write our some reminiscences of the days of the first boom in railroad building. Aberdeen was named for Aberdeen, Scotland, the birth place of Mr. Mitchell, then president of the road. Andover, Groton and Ipswich were named by Mr. Merrill, then general manager of the road of towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Most of the large towns of the state were named for directors of the road at that time. Being well acquainted with Mr. Kimball, and having had a hand in the building of some of the lines of the railroad, the editor has some knowledge of how some of the towns around were named. Roscoe was named for Roscoe Conklin, then senator from New York and a prominent politician and leader in the Republican party.

Bowdle was named for a prominent banker and capitalist living at Mitchell. Hosmer was the name of Mrs. S. V. Arnold and Mrs. Arnold was given the honor of naming that town after her father. Capt. Arnold was at that time the right-of-way agent of the Milwaukee road.

Many of the prominent citizens of Loyalton among them John A. Bowman who conducted a bank in that lively town made a hard fight to have the place named Vermont City and for a long time there was much confusion as the station was named Loyalton and the post office Vermont City. The drought and hard times coming on the feud was forgotten and the place was nicknamed “Hardscrabble” and some of the old time recognize it by the name yet. But few of the original Vermont colony who started the town now reside there.

Before the railroad was built west of Aberdeen and Mina was platted the post office was established in a small store northwest of where Mina now stands and the office was called Cortlandt. When the station was built at Mina and the office moved the post office authorities refused to change the name to Mina as it might be confused with Menno and the post office is still called Cortlandt.

Powell was named after W. E. Powell who was emigration agent at that time for the railroad and it was he who located his countrymen in the Welsh settlement. The great majority of the original settlers of their descendants in that settlement stuck to their home and prospered.

The reminiscences of F. W. Kimball would be a very fair history of the state of Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas.