It's Day 470... it's also August 19th, 2020... and we are in Silver Lake, Iowa.... or wait...is it Northwood Iowa?

It's Day 470... it's also August 19th, 2020... and we are in Silver Lake, Iowa.... or wait...is it Northwood Iowa?

We put around 200 miles behind us today. The drive down from North Branch, Minnesota, started almost...chilly.....I mean...54 degree's isn't exactly cold....but definitely indicated that summer around here was on it's way out...looks like we'll top out at around 78 degree's today.

Always fun heading out early...the sun in our face...or just to our left in this case...bringing the temps up as it rises over the stretches of farmland mixed with dense tree lines. Highway 35 cut south...taking us past more rolling fields of corn and soybeans....in some spots....the fields of green going on forever... broken up...just here and there.... by old farm houses and the silo's beside them.

A few small towns came and went....their main streets quiet in the early hours....old brick buildings and the occasional diner....at this point it was hard to tell why so quiet? Pandemic? Or just an ordinary morning around 9am in Pilot Grove Minnesota...population....85.

Crossing over into Iowa from Minnesota.....The landscape flattened out a bit...and it wasn't long when I spotted Diamond Jo's....and a perfect spot...for some shut-eye.

And just like back in Mahnomen....an empty parking lot meant we'd have this casino...almost...all.. to ourselves. Special bonus—the adjacent rest area was an Iowa Welcome Center...They called it "Top of Iowa"....complete with a war memorial...and historical marker. Unfortunately, the welcome center itself was closed (yep… pandemic). The casino, rest area, and welcome center, as well as a gas station, seemed to be pretty much all there was to this place… but all we needed for a few hours of rest before hitting the road in the morning. No RV park here at Diamond Jo's....just a wide open parking lot. Also just like back in Mahnomen....the casino seemed to be just opening back up....and doesn't look like too many folks are venturing back out....just yet.

After a few long walks with Dougie and Billie....and a quiet nite on the internet ....I'd learned that Silver Lake is more than just a quiet stop along the hiway. But to really understand the place, I'd have to go back—way back—before there were roads, before there were settlers, before even the idea of a town existed. This land belonged to the Dakota Sioux, who roamed the prairies long before European settlers arrived. The rolling plains and glacial lakes of northern Iowa were hunting grounds, sacred spaces, and part of a vast network of land where indigenous people thrived for centuries. They followed the bison, fished the lakes, and left their mark in ways still felt today....Even though a lot of that history here.... has been paved over... and plowed under.

The settlement of Silver Lake began in the mid-1800s, during a time when the promise of fertile land brought European immigrants westward. You know....the ones that came in covered wagons, with dreams of staking a claim, building homes, and farming the vast open land. The very same dream thousands were chasing across the entire midwest.... of a young country.

The town was named for the small, reflective lake nearby—a body of water that, in the right light, so they say... shimmered like silver.

In those early days, agriculture was the backbone of Silver Lake. The town grew around the needs of farmers, with grain mills, blacksmith shops, and a general store serving as the pillars of the local economy. By the late 1800s, the population continued to climb as families built homesteads and established the first schools and churches. The railroad eventually made its way here, connecting Silver Lake to larger towns and providing a means to transport crops and livestock to markets well beyond Iowa’s borders.

The 20th century brought change. As farming technology advanced, fewer hands were needed to work the land, and families that had been here for generations began to move on. The town’s population peaked early in the century and slowly declined as small family farms gave way to larger operations. Silver Lake may have been a bit busier a while back....but seems to have settled in at around 300 folks....and I bet that casino...is doin it's part in pullin a few cars off that highway.

Even still I bet it's kind of place where people know their neighbors, where a local diner serves as the unofficial town hall, a place that history may have lost sight of....but yet...full of reminders...the weathered wood of old barns and the rusted tracks of long-forgotten rail lines.

And probably good reason they put that The “Top of Iowa” Welcome center and war memorial...here in Silver Lake....to stand as a tribute to those who served, a reminder that even the smallest towns have stories worth telling. The casino and gas station may be the most visible landmarks now, but the real essence of this place lies in its past, in the people who built it, and in the land that has seen it all....and it's just that...that makes Silver Lake Iowa...just like every other small town in this country...

And right about there....where tin my reading....is where things took a bit of a twist...we weren't in...Silver Lake.....turns out we are in Northwood Iowa....

Not even sure why I thought I was in Silver Lake? I musta saw a sign somewhere...maybe the GPS on my phone....dunno. but after reading all about silver lake....it was while reading about "The top of Iowa" Welcome Center...and visiting it's website....I learned it's not in Silver Lake.....it's in Northwood.

"So tell me about Northwood" I asked the internet....

And no surprise....given the two towns are less than 15 miles apart.....it's a story very similar to that of Silver Lake....but just a bit GRANDER in scale.

Northwood was born in the mid 1800's...when a pioneer named Gulbrand O. Mellem ... built himself a cabin here....the town was platted a few years later and named Northwood....reflecting it's position in the northern corner of the county.

And the pioneerssettlers just kept comin.

And just like Silver Lake....Northwood's economy has historically been driven by agriculture...but unlike Silver lake...lumber would soon become a part of Northwoods economy due to it's proximity to densely wooded forests in the area and...and the presence of the Shell Rock River....providing the water power for mills in the town.

That extra push is what likely enabled Northwood to grow a bit faster....and bigger than Silver Lake.

Right outta the gate....nearly 300 folks would start calling Northwood home....the towns population nearly quadrupled in just it's first ten years...and by the turn of the century....nearly 1300 pioneers were buzzin around Northwood.

And that's how it went around here.....solid growth for over 60 years. by 1980 they were over 2k....but by 1990 they had seen their first drop in population since founding. Been a couple of ups and downs since then but for the most part....looks like Northwood has settled in at around 2k...seems to work for em.

We'll head out early in the morning I think....sun in our face again... It was just one night....and we hadn't talked to a soul....but that doesn't mean we didn't feel a bit of that pioneer spirit....the resiliance of the folks that chose to live here....on these rugged plains...in sometimes unforgiving conditions...over 170 years ago....way before all these roads....

Fact is....we're probably takin...just a little bit...of Silver Lake...and Northwood Iowa with us as we pull out of this casino parking lot.

I guess we're sorta back in that "who cares" mode....ya know...go where the road takes us....

I wonder what we'll learn there