Viola Center, Iowa
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{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Viola Center, Iowa
| settlement_type = Former Unincorporated community
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| pushpin_map = Iowa
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = United States
| subdivision_type1 = State
| subdivision_name1 = Iowa
| subdivision_type2 = County
| subdivision_name2 = Audubon
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| timezone = Central (CST)
| utc_offset = -6
| timezone_DST = CDT
| utc_offset_DST = -5
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| elevation_ft = 1444
| coordinates = {{coord|41|48|21|N|94|48|08|W|type:city_region:US-IA_source:GNIS-enwiki|display=inline,title}}
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| area_code = 712
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Viola Center was an unincorporated community in Audubon County, Iowa, in the United States.{{GNIS|462582|name=Viola Center, Iowa}}
Formerly the site of the Viola Center Episcopal Methodist Church, a high school, a post office, a store, and a telephone exchange, Viola Center lost its post office in 1903, its high school in the 1950s, and the telephone company, store, and church. The Viola Center Cemetery remains about {{convert|1|mi|km}} north of the former community.
Geography
Viola Center was one mile south of the center of Viola Township, at the junction of County Highway N36 and 140th Street. It was {{convert|6|mi|km}} northeast of Ross, Iowa.{{Cite book |title=DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer of Iowa |publisher=Garmin, LTD. |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-946494-573 |location=Yarmouth, ME |pages=37 |language=en}}
History
File:Audubon County, Iowa 1903.png
A post office was established in Viola Center on March 6, 1878, and remained in operation until it was discontinued on March 21, 1903. In 1887, Viola Center's population was estimated at 50 residents.{{Cite book |last=Cram |first=George Franklin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CPAwAQAAMAAJ&dq=cram%2527s+1885+atlas&pg=PA330 |title=Cram's Universal Atlas: Geographical, Astronomical and Historical, Containing a Complete Series of Maps of Modern Geography, Illustrated by Numerous Views and Charts; the Whole Supplemented with Valuable Statistics, Diagrams, and a Complete Gazetteer of the United States |date=1887 |publisher=G.F. Cram |pages=367–369 |language=en |access-date=December 14, 2021 |archive-date=December 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229210624/https://books.google.com/books?id=CPAwAQAAMAAJ&dq=cram%2527s+1885+atlas&pg=PA330#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}
The Viola Center Episcopal Methodist Church was built in 1887; before the building's construction, the congregation gathered locally.{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Henry Franklin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qlc0AQAAMAAJ&q=viola |title=History of Audubon County, Iowa: Its People, Industries, and Institutions |date=1915 |pages=206 |publisher=Brookhaven Press |isbn=9781581032413 |language=en |access-date=May 27, 2021 |archive-date=February 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214225120/https://books.google.com/books?id=qlc0AQAAMAAJ&q=viola#v=snippet&q=viola&f=false |url-status=live }} The church was home to many community gatherings, including an annual Christmas Tree program; in 1920, the Christmas Tree gathering at the church was "packed to its utmost capacity", according to the newspaper report in nearby Audubon.{{Cite news |date=1920-12-23 |work=Audubon Republican |title=Program Well Attended |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87057928/1920-12-23/ed-1/seq-8/ |access-date=2021-05-24 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524064438/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87057928/1920-12-23/ed-1/seq-8/ |url-status=live }}
In 1900, Viola Center had a store, a church, and a post office.{{Cite news |date=1902-11-27 |title=Audubon Republican. (Audubon, Iowa), November 27, 1902 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87057928/1902-11-27/ed-1/seq-9/ |access-date=2021-05-24 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524003446/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87057928/1902-11-27/ed-1/seq-9/ |url-status=live }} A school was located one mile to the north,{{Cite book |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2007626984/ |title=Standard atlas of Audubon County, Iowa: including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county, map of the state, United States and world, patrons directory, reference business directory and departments devoted to general information, analysis of the system of U.S. land surveys, digest of the system of civil government, etc. etc. |year=1900 |access-date=May 23, 2021 |archive-date=May 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523235203/https://www.loc.gov/item/2007626984/ |url-status=live }} and another school, the Morland schoolhouse, one mile south of Viola Center.{{Cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=H. F. |url=http://archive.org/details/historyofaudubon00andr |title=History of Audubon county, Iowa; its people, industries, and institutions |last2=B.F. Bowen & Co.. pbl |date=1915 |publisher=Indianapolis : B. F. Bowen & company, inc. |pages=215}} The church was still present in 1930.{{Cite book |url=http://128.255.22.135/cdm/ref/collection/hixson/id/69 |title=Plat book of Audubon County, Iowa, 1930 :: Hixson Plat Map Atlases of Iowa |year=1930}} The Viola Center High School opened in December 1906. Attendance was estimated at 15-20 students.{{Cite news |date=1906-11-22 |work=Audubon Republican. (Audubon, Iowa), November 22, 1906 |title=Viola Center High School |page=4 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87057928/1906-11-22/ed-1/seq-4/ |access-date=2021-05-24 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524055053/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87057928/1906-11-22/ed-1/seq-4/ |url-status=live }} The high school closed in the 1950s, and was demolished in 2020.
The Coon Rapids and Viola Center Telephone Company operated in Viola Center in the early 1920s, and at that time comprised {{convert|11.25|miles|km}} of telephone line.{{Cite news |date=1921-11-10 |title=Audubon Republican. (Audubon, Iowa) |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87057928/1921-11-10/ed-1/seq-3/ |access-date=2021-05-24 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524005938/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87057928/1921-11-10/ed-1/seq-3/ |url-status=live }}
Viola Center's population was 52 in 1915,{{Cite book |url=http://128.255.22.135/cdm/ref/collection/atlases/id/13477 |title=Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa, 1917 :: Iowa Counties Historic Atlases |pages=63–66 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and was 69 residents in 1925.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqRRAQAAMAAJ |title=Premier Atlas of the World: Containing Maps of All Countries of the World, with the Most Recent Boundary Decisions, and Maps of All the States, territories, and Possessions of the United States with Population Figures from the Latest Official Census Reports, Also Data of Interest Concerning International and Domestic Political Questions |date=1925 |publisher=Rand McNally & Company |pages=190 |language=en |access-date=June 12, 2021 |archive-date=December 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229220633/https://books.google.com/books?id=WqRRAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }} Today, Viola Center is nearly empty, and is sometimes considered a ghost town.{{Cite web |title=Audubon County |url=http://www.iowaghosttowns.com/audubon_county_iowa_ghost_towns.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925222703/http://www.iowaghosttowns.com/audubon_county_iowa_ghost_towns.html |archive-date=September 25, 2013 |access-date=6 August 2014 |publisher=Iowa Ghost Towns}}
The Viola Center Cemetery is located more than a mile north of the townsite, at 41°49'25'N 094°48'07'W.{{Cite web |title=Viola Center Cemetery, Iowa Latitude/Longitude |url=https://www.lat-long.com/Latitude-Longitude-462583-Iowa-Viola_Center_Cemetery.html |access-date=2021-06-13 |website=www.lat-long.com |archive-date=June 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613170209/https://www.lat-long.com/Latitude-Longitude-462583-Iowa-Viola_Center_Cemetery.html |url-status=live }}
See also
{{Portal|Iowa}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Audubon County, Iowa}}
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Category:Unincorporated communities in Audubon County, Iowa