This home’s early owners had a thriving dry goods business

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 Wilkinson home at 701 E. Washington. Because of typing errors the name was spelled incorrectly in a portion of the write-up. “Wilkinson” is the correct name.

During most of the early years of this week’s house, it was occupied by the Hargrave family.

Thomas and Mary Hargrave came to Mt. Pleasant soon after being married in Ohio in 1855. They opened a dry goods store on the south side of the square in the same year.

Over the years it prospered and was moved, perhaps more than once. An 1859 advertisement says “west side”. Eventually, it was located at 101 N. Jefferson in a multi-level building and offered, among other things the “largest and handsomest” display of carpets in the city. The display windows were also deemed the finest in the city, they being the work of Hargrave’s son Charles.

Regrettably, Thomas Hargrave died in 1897, and Charles took over the business. In 1899, he advertised a massive going out of business sale. Charles moved west for another retail opportunity in in Waymore, Nebraska, another promising railroad town. As it turns out Waymore did not grow to the size and importance of Mt. Pleasant.

Mary Hargrave stayed briefly but also moved on to live with one of her children and she died in 1915 in Salt Lake City. Her remains were returned to Mt. Pleasant, and she and her husband are both buried in Forest Home Cemetery.

The next owners were Ralph and Ida Hulings. They immediately had the house moved a number of feet to the south, allowing for another home to be built on the north side of what had been an extra-large lot. The Mt. Pleasant Daily News reported that every site on the block was then occupied.

Ralph Hulings was steward at Mt. Pleasant State Hospital for 35 years. Responsible for the hospital’s livestock and crops, he reported in 1912 that he had used electricity to unload and place a large crop of hay in the barn.

He said, that to his knowledge, it was the only place in the state that made such use of the modern convenience. A 20 horsepower motor, which had been in use grinding grain, was adopted for the hay operation.

In 1912, Ida Hulings opened a variety store in the downtown area, taking over the business of T. L Roberts. Specializing in chinaware, she also sold a wide variety of typical variety store merchandise.

Ralph Hulings served on the city council for many years and died in 1943 after an extended illness. Ida died in 1951 at the home of a brother in Sheridan, Wyoming. The couple had no reported children.