T-R FILE PHOTO Scenes for a horror movie titled “The Safest Place in the Cosmos” were shot inside of the Mowry Irvine Mansion at 503 W. Main St. earlier this year. The Historical Society of Marshall County is currently working to secure a designation for the mansion on the National Registry of Historic Places.

When the Historical Society of Marshall County was founded in 1908, few involved with its establishment could have foreseen the rich and complex journey the organization would embark on over the past 115 years.

In September 2022, long-time HSMC administrator and local historian extraordinaire Michelle Roseburrough Halverson relocated out of state, requiring the HSMC’s board members to assume more duties.

Board Treasurer Mary Pfantz said 2023 has been a year of transition.

“We would gladly welcome volunteers and new board members — have some fresh perspectives. We would love to have some new, younger members from the community,” Pfantz said.

On May 16, 2023, Dorie Tammen, upon retiring as general manager of Riverside Cemetery, began a part-time role as museum/library assistant for the Historical Society of Marshall County, working out of the Mowry Irvine Mansion.

“I’m really excited to be working for the Historical Society in this beautiful home. It’s been so interesting to discover the wonderful records and artifacts in the HSMC collection, and I’ve had fun sharing some of those on our Facebook page,” Tammen said. “I’m also pleasantly surprised by the number of visitors who’ve come in for tours of the Mowry Irvine House. Some days, I’ve given three tours, and visitors have come from Wyoming, South Dakota, Canada and even Germany. (That was a fun day for me, since my parents were from Germany.) It’s fun sharing some things that impress — or stump — the children who have visited: an antique phone on the kitchen wall, an antique camera, etc. And of course, the tower at the top of the house is a hit with everyone.”

In December 2022, the HSMC hosted its annual holiday dinner at the Binford House. Each March, it holds an annual member meeting.

The HSMC owns the Mowry Irvine Mansion (also the locale of its headquarters) and the Taylor No. 4 Country School. It maintains the Glick-Sower House — which is kept in a trust — plus administers the Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop in Haverhill, a site owned and operated by the State Historical Society of Iowa. Each spring and fall, country school reenactments take place at Taylor for every school in the county. The blacksmith shop is open Memorial Day through Labor Day. Glick-Sower, which is not available to rent, is open by appointment only to tour.

The Glick-Sower House, which Pfantz calls a “treasure,” was built in 1859 by Dr. George Glick, a prominent Marshalltown businessman and one of the city’s first postmasters. In 1870, Mr. Glick sold the home to George Sower, a man of German origin who had been living in Tama County. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1993.

“I call them the Victorian version of hoarders,” Roseburrough said in a previous interview. “They didn’t throw anything away, which I admire.”

In 2017, Madelyn and Steve Irvine donated the Mowry Irvine Mansion and many of its artifacts. The house, located at 503 W. Main St., was Madelyn’s childhood home.

“The house is very well furnished in period-appropriate pieces,” Pfantz added.

It is open Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Also housed at the mansion is a genealogy section known as the Frances Rhoades Williams Research Library, which harbors obituaries, family histories, immigration records, plus an inventory of area cemeteries.

The house is available to rent for special occasions, such as class reunions, parties and club meetings.

Construction of the Italianate-style house began in the 1870s at the direction of Fred Grumme. It would later serve as the private residence of the Lounsberry and Mowry families. Madelyn is the daughter of John L. Mowry and Irene Lounsberry. John L. Mowry (1905-1995), was a prominent lawyer, judge, mayor, legislator and special agent in the FBI. The two-story home has five-bedrooms, two bathrooms and nearly 3,800-square feet of space.

But what’s viewable to the public doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of what is owned by the HSMC. Board President Dan Brandt noted that the 2018 tornado resulted in the permanent closure of its previous museum/headquarters, 202 E. Church St. The property was later sold, requiring its exhibits to be put in storage. Those pieces chronicle the military and medical history of Marshall County, as well as its Native American roots, among other areas of focus.

“Currently, we don’t have a museum,” he said. “The future plan, down the road, is to build a new museum. We want to keep the Mowry Irvine Mansion as more of an event center. The museum would be built on the empty lot on the east side of the Mowry Irvine Mansion.”

Tammen said the HSMC owns a complete WWI army uniform worn by a Marshall County soldier who was an ambulance driver who transported Spanish flu victims at Camp Pike in Arkansas. It also possesses a wedding dress from 1911, along with the dress shirt worn by that bride’s father at the wedding.

“There’s also a chest of carpentry tools that were used in the construction of our courthouse,” Tammen added.

While a new museum is still a ways off into the future, Pfantz noted that the board is already looking at potential designs.

But time marches on for the HSMC — and to its own beat. A major undertaking the board commenced in August 2022 is working to place the Mowry Irvine Mansion on the National Register of Historic Places. Established in 1966 through the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is “part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.”

Pfantz said an initial evaluation form was sent to the State of Iowa. The HSMC received a reply, and then responded in kind.

“The ball is in their court,” she said. “Once they determine that it’s a property that should be on the National Register they will send a field consultant out to take a look at the property.”

Brandt added that a report of the findings would then be made, with the HSMC hiring a consultant to complete the detailed application process that would move them closer to securing designation.

Pfantz noted this could take one to two years to come to fruition. But, if successful, the efforts will be advantageous in propelling historic preservation.

“The recognition would show how important this property is to Marshall County and Marshalltown and the historic nature of it,” she said. “It would make it so we would be applicable to receive grants and other kinds of funding that without being on the register, we would not be able to receive.”

The HSMC previously hosted monthly Third Thursday programs, which spotlighted topics of local historical interest. Brandt said the aim is to resume that type of programming in the future.

For several years, the HSMC has contributed a column to the Times-Republican’s monthly Past Times special section. In Roseburrough’s place, former T-R staff writer Mike Donahey has assumed those duties.

“He is also a new board member,” Brandt added.

The organization accepts donations that pertain to the history of Marshall County. All donations are tax-deductible. Membership opportunities are available. Brandt authors a quarterly journal of the HSMC called “Then & Now” which members receive. Each issue features an article about a business or town in the county, information on the school and genealogical interest group, plus updates on the mansion.

For more information, the HSMC may be reached at: 641-752-6664. Leave a message.