William Brenton moved from the farm and built what is now referred to as the Brenton House in 1878.  The house became a landmark in the less than ten-year-old town of Dallas Center.  According to Melinda Pradarelli, author of Brenton, The people, history and legacy of Iowa’s Brenton Bank, “Many believe that the fifty thousand bricks from which the house was built had been made near the river west of town, and that the mortar sand was hauled from the same water.”  She goes on to describe Dallas Center at the time as “still a fairly primitive town.  The streets were dirt and in the center of Main Street stood a single pump where farmers could water their horses…Haircuts were just thirty-five cents and prairie fires were a great concern for the locals.”

The Brenton family 1895

Do you have a story or experience you’d like to share about the Brenton House?  Email Danny Beyer at danny@dannybeyer.com.