Elgin, Iowa
The Sioux and Winnebago Indians had lived there before 1846. After the 1846 Winnebago Treaty, Indians were forced from the area by the US military and moved to Minnesota. In the summer of 1848, a flood of white settlers arrived. Matthew Conner built a log cabin and general store and the settlement was first called "Shin Bone Valley." Surveyor M. V. Burdick renamed the town "Elgin" in 1851 in honor of his hometown, Elgin, Illinois. Benjamin Dimond became the postmaster at Elgin in 1852. Later, the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railway came through in 1872, and the Elgin Times newspaper was established in 1875. The town later was a good spot for Swiss immigrants.