This home was built on the lot that housed Mt. Pleasant’s first Masonic Lodge

With the cooperation of the Southeast Iowa Union/Mt. Pleasant News, the Mt. Pleasant Historic Preservation Commission will be publishing, every week or two, peeks at some of the featured homes in the 1909 book, Mt. Pleasant Beautiful.

In the series, the 1909 picture will be contrasted with one of recent vintage. The Commission has been collecting information for the eventual issuance of a new book updating the information on the still standing homes from the 1909 publication.

You can test your knowledge of historic Mt. Pleasant with this column. The identity of the featured home will be published with the next featured home. The last featured home was the Willard House presently located at 107 South Harrison, although originally built at 209 East Washington. It was moved in 1931.

This week we feature another house located close by the downtown area. As the pictures show, it appears much the same today as it did in the 1909 Mount Pleasant Beautiful publication.

It was built in 1906 by Charles and Anna Waibel, 20 years after their marriage in Jefferson County. They had been in business on Mt. Pleasant since the 1880s and operated a cigar factory/news stand/smoke shop.

The home remained in the Waibel family until the death of Anna in 1945. It was subsequently purchased by Roy and Frances Bacino who operated the Princess Candy Kitchen, a business that had been competitors of the Waibel’s. At one point in the early 1920s records show four businesses in town with similar products.

Of perhaps more historic interest is the building which stood on the lot prior to the Waibel’s construction of their home.

In September 1844 a Masonic Lodge was established in Mt. Pleasant and met in space in the building at this location. It was the first “secret society” in town.

The building was purchased in 1867 by the Adventist Church, which held services on the second floor and a public school was held on the first floor.

Although the building was listed for sale in the mid-1880s, apparently the Advestists kept it until purchased by the Waibels.

The old building was moved to South Jefferson and Clay for use as a barn and utility building. It was razed in 1919 for the erection of a residence.

The current owners purchased the home in 1987.