How many Sac county people ever heard of Leota, New Munich or Philo?  Yet these and twelve other towns formerly existed in Sac county and are now listed in the state historical department at Des Moines as abandoned towns.  All 15 of these towns formerly existed in Sac county.  How many do you old-timers remember?

CEDAR FORKS.  Listed as a post office in Sac county from 1857 to 1858.  Its location not found, but supposed to have been in Cedar township.

COON VALLEY.  A place in section 18, Coon Valley township, Post office, 1879-1880.

ELK RUN.  A post office (1877-79) in the southwestern part of Cook township.

FLETCHER.  The name first given to the present town of Lake View when it was platted in 1881.  Fletcher was the name of the post office from 1880 to 1887.

LEOTA.  A village platted in 1900 in section 10, Viola township.  Post office, 1890 to 1900, except one brief intermission.

MERCER.  A C. & N.W. Railway station in the central part of Viola township, about one mile west of the present village of Carnarvon.  Post office 1876-78.

MOUNT HOPE.  A post office from 1875 to 1882 in the central part of Eureka township.

From Pictorial Atlas of Sac County Iowa, compiled and published by Title Atlas Co., Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1983.
Mount Hope - The mail was first carried on the stage coach that ran from Storm Lake to Ida Grove, before the town of Schaller was laid out. The stage stopped for the noon meal at Mt. Hope Inn and post office, which was located 3 miles west and ½ mile north of the site chosen for the town of Schaller, which is now the Marshall Robinson farm. A. B. Holmes was the postmaster. This office was abandoned when Schaller was settled.

NEW ALBANY.  Platted as a town in 1857 in the northeast quarter of section 1, Wall Lake township, about three miles south and one mile east of Sac City, but never developed.

NEW MUNICH.  Laid out as a town in the southwestern part of section 19, Cedar township, about one mile east of the present city of Sac City, and shown on maps of the 1850s at least two years earlier than any other place in the county.  However, it was never built up.  Sac City was laidout in 1855.

OLIVER.  A post office in the northwestern part of Levey township from 1875 to 1878.

PETTIS.  A post office from 1898 to 1902 in section 5.  Coon Valley township.

PHILO.  A post office from 1875 to 1877 in the central part of Clinton township.

SCHOHARIE.  A post office from 1871 to 1874 in the southwestern part of Douglas township on the Raccoon river.

WHEELER’S RANCH.  A post office from 1875 to 1878 in section 14, Wheeler township.

(Transcribed by B. Ekse)

 
Schoharie Post Office & Stage Stop - 1871
Click photo for enlargement

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