by Logan Kronstain, Senior History Major
As our research on Storm Lake reaches its end, many of the students have been hard at work making their final discoveries on the town, past and present. In my own work, I found a truly unique opinion column from nearly 140 years ago that reflects aspects of the town today.
The column, “They Come, They See and Go Away Conquered,” published on September 24, 1885, in the Storm Lake Pilot, is a tourist’s op-ed about the qualities of Buena Vista County. The author, “Tourist,” describes how easterners have an idea of the West that is not as grand as the reality found, and he sees Buena Vista County as unrecognized for its many qualities. He blames this on its obscure location, having only had a railroad for three years (as of 1885), but he highly describes the rich prairies in the area. Interestingly, the author agrees with a transplanted farmer from Illinois, who expected rural Iowa to resemble Illinois within a few years’ time. He predicts that, as the area grows, it will not lose its fundamentals and morals that make it such a special place.
I have found that, over the course of this project, the residents of Storm Lake today, while not necessarily having that verbatim outlook on the future of their county, do share that same optimism and faith in what lies in the town’s future.
For instance, I had the pleasure of interviewing the Reverend Dave Kebschull of St. Mark Lutheran Church last week. He provided a similar analysis of Storm Lake has had the “Tourist”; again, not in recognizing Buena Vista County as a farmer’s haven, but in expecting the town to hold on to its unique values and aspects that set it apart from most other towns in the nation.
I’m originally from the East Liverpool, Ohio, area, a small town situated on the banks of the Ohio River in Appalachia. The town was once dubbed the “Pottery Capital of the World” for the tens of pottery firms it once held and the massive industrial output it produced. If you’re familiar with Fiestaware, this is where it came from. But those days are long behind the people who still remain in East Liverpool, as the population has declined by more than 16,000 people since its peak in 1970. Today it has around 10,000 residents.
In East Liverpool, you are lucky to find anyone who speaks so optimistically about the area. Whether it be the local economy, the condition of the roads, things to do, or most importantly, its future, there’s not a general air of positivity hanging over the former Crockery City.
That’s not to say that there aren’t people who care for the town. The new mayor has worked hard to bring in new businesses, and just the other day, a downtown revitalization concept was drafted by an outside firm.
However, it’s undeniable that many locals still see this as a dream rather than a reality. If the 1885 tourist had visited this town, he may have sung similar praises for it as he did for Buena Vista County. But today, they’ve gone down entirely different paths, which has resulted in this continued optimism for Storm Lake’s identity, while a crisis has formed in East Liverpool. One could argue that the community fabric in Storm Lake is stronger than ever. Community dialogues happen frequently as the town understands how immigration can be so important to a rural community.
I find it interesting that the aspect of Storm Lake’s relative obscurity despite its remarkable qualities is reflected both in 1885 and in 2022. Of course, Buena Vista County’s agricultural prowess was indeed realized after the tourist’s column, but it only recently has come under examination due to the Tyson plant birthed from that power, and the unique demography it brought. This particular project, however, has certainly reflected the unique aspect of the community members just the same as the tourist did all that time ago. As a diverse city of all sorts of backgrounds comes together to foster a safe community for all, another distressed small town such as East Liverpool could look upon the successes of Storm Lake and find optimism.
What would a tourist think of Storm Lake if they had visited today? Are the morals the same? Yes, I believe that Storm Lake is still holding on to its morals, even as they have undeniably have changed over the course of 140 years. Are the fundamentals still there? Of course, this rural town in Iowa still takes pride in its community fabric. Is it still such a special place? I don’t think you can question that, not one bit.
Logan Kronstain is a senior majoring in history. He is particularly interested in international geopolitics and geopolitical history, in addition to local history. After graduation, he plans to enter the workforce as a paralegal before a potential career in law. Logan is a member of the Miami University Pep Band, amongst other clubs, and enjoys visiting local parks.
