ARLINGTON HISTORY

            FROM 1856

    It is reported that frost was evident on the inside walls of the crude dwellings of April, 1856.  At this time (Arlington) was platted as Brush Creek, by B.F. Little, surveyor, on land owned by Moe and sold to  C. D. and T. E. Shambaugh on December 20, 1856, agreeing to give possession March 1st, but on February 22nd the house burned to the ground.  The Shambaugh's took shelter in a small shanty until 5,000 feet of green lumber from a saw mill at Fayette could be hauled to erect a five room structure.  Here, two families resided, opened up a stock of goods, and kept a hotel.
    The first settler in Brush Creek was Charles Moe and for some time the location was known as Moetown in his honor.    It is further known O.R. Robinson bought the first lot on the site of Brush Creek for which he gave $20.00.  A house was built on this lot in the summer of 1856.
    In the fall of 1856, Melvin Lackey came to Brush Creek and built.  A little circumstance occurred in the bar room of the Shambaugh Hotel... Mr. Lackey had a tooth ache; Dr. Alexander of Fayette, happened in the bar room and heard the complaint about the aching tooth.  The sympathetic Dr. requested Mr. Lackey let him see the ungrateful tooth.  While Mr. Lackey sat with his eyes shut, head leaned back and mouth open, the Doctor took from his pocket a pair of forceps and fastened them on the unruly member.  Lackey bellowed, the crowd laughed, but the tooth was out before he knew what was going on.
    The next summer C.D. Shambaugh built a store and dwelling.  Prospects of a large settlement looked mighty good in 1856 and the first half of 1857 because it looked as though Brush Creek might become the possessor of either the Dubuque & Pacific or the "Ram's Horn" Railroad..  But the government offered inducements to build the road in the direction of Sioux City from Dubuque.  
    The township ( Fairfield) in which Brush Creek   was located, originally had about 11,000 acres of good timber.  Farmers in almost every direction from town owned timber and " there is no better location in northern Iowa in which to settle than this."
    The very best "wild land"  was from $10.00 to $15.00 per acre and improved from $25.00 to $50.00 per acre.
    Brush Creek was not in the timber, but one-half mile from it on the prairie, surrounded with 70,000 acres of rich soil, rolling, productive, capable of sustaining a population of 20,000, with Brush Creek at its center; but unknown and undeveloped to the outside world until 1871 or 1872.
    From the Brush Creek News, October 16, 1875:  "From 1870-1873 two store buildings were added, with stocks of goods, making three stores in all.  Also the Davenport & St. Paul Rail Road project was sprung into existence.  By July 8th, 1873, the track was laid to Brush Creek.  Building and business now begins in earnest.  From 1875-1877 business grows from $20,000 to $500,000 per anum."
    B.F. Little, land agent, remarked that he had thousands of acres of the finest land in northern Iowa for sale, at the lowest figures.
    In March, 1874, O.H. Osborn established the Brush Creek News, a spicy sheet that had its origin in a little six by eight paper, commenced in 1873 by his son, on a novelty, Job Press, bought more for the amusement of the boy than anything else.  Then it became a necessity.
    Considerable excitement was caused by the discovery of gold on Moine and Bear Creek in April, 1877.  The matter was laid to rest in a few weeks for no rich strikes were made.  The gold was there and probably still is, but in minute quantities. 
    The first school house in Brush Creek was moved here in 1858 from the Newton District.  The growth of the town made it necessary to rebuild in 1877 at a cost of $5,000.00.  That building plus a wooden addition burned in the winter of 1920-1921 and the present structure (now unused) was erected in 1921.
    The first church services were those of the United Brethren in 1847 with an edifice erected June 3, 1878.  The Church of Christ was built in 1865.  On December 17,1911 a new church was dedicated for the Brush Creek and Taylorsville Lutherans.  The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1876.
    The population of Brush Creek in 1878 reached a high of 1,000, but for some reason it did not continue to grow.  Instead, it declined slowly but steadily.  In 1895, when the town had a population of about 700, the citizens felt they had outgrown the name "Brush Creek" and began to look for a more appropriate name.