The location of this town is a fine one
on the high bottom lands of Elm Creek, in the midst of a fertile and well
settled country. The village is small,
having a population of only about one hundred and fifty, but it is steadily
growing and is a thriving business point.
It is on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, on the line extending
from Hastings to Red Cloud.
The town-site was originally the farm
of John Poyer, who gave a portion of it to the railroad company to lay
out a
town and establish a depot and station
here. The town-site was surveyed and platted by A. B. Smith, the town
surveyor of the railroad company, in
September, 1878, and was named in honor of W. D. Cowles, who had
prior to his death in 1876, been general
freight agent of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad. The town
is
located on the south one-half of the
northeast quarter of Section 4, Town 2, Range 10 west, about two and
one-half miles east of the center of
the county, ten miles from Red Cloud and eleven miles from Blue Hill. It
consists of twenty-two blocks 300 feet
square, and the business lots are twenty-five feet front and one hundred
and forty feet deep. The residence lots
are fifty feet front and one hundred and forty feet deep.
As soon as the town was laid out improvements
commenced. Among the first settlers were M. W. Crabtree, T.
J. Ward, John Clark, D. T. and L. D.
Thomas. In December, 1879, the railroad station and section house were
built and a post office was established
about the same time. F. M. Warren was the first station agent, was
appointed postmaster and was the first
attorney as well.
The first house a small residence was
built by M. W. Crabtree. In December, 1878, L. D. Thomas built another
small house.
February 26, 1879, Thomas & Ward opened the first store with a general stock of merchandise.
The first birth was a son to Mr. and
Mrs. M. W. Crabtree in 1879. The first marriage was that of John Waller
to
Miss Lavina Buster. The first death
that of a child of John and Eva Clark, in 1879.