The History of Dale City
John Lonsdale was born February 14, 1818, in Yorkshire England. In 1841 at the age of 23 he traveled across the Atlantic and settled in Chili, New York, where he stayed for 1 year. He then moved to Madina County, Ohio where he formed a partnership with Enoch H. France, and ran a woolen mill for a number of years, later Mr. France would join John and his family in Dale City.
John then traveled to Guthrie County, Iowa in 1853 and parceled 1,500 acres of prairie grass fields and a light timber region, later to be known as Dale City. In 1856 he moved from Ohio with his wife Britt Ann and their children in a covered wagon pulled by a team of horses and settled on his 1500 acres. John did not stay idle long in 1858 he established a woolen mill along the banks of the Raccoon River. The mill was known for its high quality woolen blankets, cashmere and flannel as well as the employment it provided to many of the local inhabitants. It was housed in a 96’-0” x 60’-0” structure. In addition to the mill he established a local goods store in 1861, which would additionally serve as a post office from March 9, 1865 to June 15, 1992, with John serving as the postmaster for many of those years.
The Guthrie County records indicate Mr. Lonsdale’s net worth in 1860 as $7,000 for the mill and $1,000 in his personal estate. Within this record it notes his household inhabitants to include Mr. James Barnes a 19 year old school teacher from Ohio.
The property in which the school house resides was owned and given for the specific purpose of providing an education to the children of the 30 plus inhabitants of Dale City. Letters from this period record John commenting back to his former countryman about the educational opportunity that was available to all citizens within the United States.
He formally plated (laid out) the town of Dale City in 1862, it was later officially recorded in Guthrie County in 1871.
John Lonsdale passed away April 26, 1892 in Dale City and is buried in Morris burg Cemetery.
Our school house in which we moved from it’s original location up to the winery, is the school house which is spoken of above, additionally it was placed on the original 1500 plated acres.