Community of History in Siouxland, Granite

While visiting the Gitchie Manitou State Preserve earlier this summer I also stopped in the community of Granite.

A sign pokes a little at itself as a community that has more residents previously in Granite, Iowa Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

It’s remaining residents have a sense of humor and have created a small town square to remember its local history, a community created with the coming of the railroad. And it seems the community is best known for its annual threshing bee held in July.

A sign outside of town advertises the THreshing Bee that takes place every summer in July at Granite, Iowa Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

I brieftly talked with one resident, inquiring about his metal roof since I was looking at having my house’s roof replaced. He gave me a little overview of the community and its history.

Resident and contractor Gregg Beldin, left, speaks to another resident about a project she needs done in Granite, Iowa Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. Traffic congestion is not a problem and neither is standing in the roadway talking. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

The pace is slow but the residents seem to enjoy that and the space they have surrounding them in this northernly portion of Iowa. The community erected a plaque detailing the history of community, its prominence during the early boom railroad days, which have tapered off like a lot of smaller communities that thrived when the railroads touched more rural lives.

A plaque which sits on a town square detail the history of Granite, Iowa, Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

A plaque which sits on a town square detail the history of Granite, Iowa, Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

It will be fun to revisit the small community during its two-day festival and see how difficult it will be to find parking and to see the place bustle with activity like it did in its early days.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa

The Granite Mercantile store sits on the edge of town at Granite, Iowa Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Parts of “Granite Village” is laid out on a side street in Granite, Iowa Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

A small farmstead home sits in the “Granite Village” that represents the former community in Granite, Iowa Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

The one-room school house District 31 built in 1881 sits in the “Granite Village” in a park in Granite, Iowa Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

A plaque on the edge of the historical square tells the history of Granite, Iowa Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

The “Granite Village”, a replica of its former days when the railroad ran nearby sits along a side street and by the park in Granite, Iowa Thursday Aug. 3, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)