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Clive Historical Society Realizes
A 14 Year Dream!!!
(Click on thumbnail photos for
larger view.)
First diorama set in the 1882 Clive Depot represents a traveling family going by train to points
unknown. |
The father is purchasing a ticket from the station
master and the mother and child are waiting for the arrival of the
train. |
In 1989, a committee of mostly Clive Festival Members came
together to consider the fate of the Clive Depot. It didn't look like much. It
had seen many structural changes during the one hundred plus years that it sat
on the corner of 86th Street and Swanson Boulevard. "Why even bother about
this worn out structure?", was asked by many skeptics and head shakers. The
answer is that it represents the HERITAGE of who we are in this community.
One of the questions that had to be considered was, "What are we going to
do with the building?" Of course, no one knew. At the time, it was thought
that the building would be moved directly across the street from the original
location. There could be no parking and it would be featured for those who could
park elsewhere and walk to the "postage stamp" sized MEMORIAL PARK.
One of the suggestions was a diorama theme. Windows could be decorated to
represent Clive History and the ultimate goal of saving the Clive Depot could be
realized. Like all projects, the plans underwent many changes. Acquisition of
the depot would take five years and much would happen in the following years.
On December 10th 2002, the Clive Historical Society, the
Clive Chamber of Commerce and the City of Clive hosted the First Holiday Open
House, made the announcement of the process for the 86th Street corridor
revitalization project, and the
presented the new Clive Living Guide.
With this event, the realization of the "Diorama Theme" was presented
for the first time. Two of the three structures in the park are now ready for
window viewing. The future for the Depot is indeed secure. Four windows look
into the waiting room, the stationmaster office and the freight room. Within are
featured a young family waiting for the next train. The stationmaster is
conversing with the father about time schedules and tickets and the mother is
taking care of their baby. Both the waiting room and stationmaster office
represent the late 1880s. The freight room is the general museum room for the
community and has no specific time period. It's just "for fun."
The General Store has two large porch windows for window
shopping. At this time the storekeeper is decorating a Christmas tree and the
room is decorated for the holidays. The year of representation is 1915 (the
store was open from1911 - 1929) and is the time period being researched for the
store. Featured within the store is our mascot Grand Pappy. His name is Clarence
Clive and as our historian he has been around for many years telling stories
that just have to be heard.
Mannequins -- Found on the Internet.
The most recent purchases for the Historical Society have been the acquisition
of one animated and four stationery mannequins. The first one purchased was for
the general store. She was actually used in a store in Georgia in 1911. Since
that is the year of the opening of the Swanson Store, it seemed appropriate that
she should be part of our "staff." Considering her age, she is in very
good condition. She was sold to us by a gentleman who purchased her from a
family owned store that was closing. The three mannequins in the depot are new
and found their way to Clive, Iowa via Dallas, Texas. Grand Pappy also has a
Texas heritage, but he actually arrived in Clive from Oregon. His former job was
to entertain and talk about paintings in an art gallery. For the last three
years, he has been retired. The seller had just put him up for sale the week we
were looking for mannequins. We were delighted we were able to acquire him.
The baby in the depot is a 40+ year old doll donated to the society for display.
Her heritage is totally Iowan and the family has been in Iowa for over 130
years. Without donations, we would not be able to tell our story. We are very
grateful for all those who have given their support over the last 14 years to
this project of remembering Clive History. In light of the events of 9/11/01 we
must NOT FORGET.
We are who we are because of where we have been. The same is true for Clive.
For More Pictures ...
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