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BRITT IOWA HISTORY
  • 1870
       

    1870 - first railroad: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Depot and post office established

  • 1874
       

    1874 - first general store

  • 1875
       

    1875 - first elevator

  • 1876
       

    1876 - first residence, hotel, saloon, school, teacher, tree

  • 1876
       

    1876 - first school held in room at Star Hotel

  • 1877
       

    1877 - first birth, death, cemetery

  • 1878
       

    1878 - first school building (Redman Hall) built, also used as a church

  • 1878
       

    1878 - Village of Britt (platted)

    first livery, church, hardware store, mercantile store, physician, elevator

  • 1879
       

    1879 - first marriage, implement dealer, meat market, blacksmith, bank, newspaper

  • 1880
       

    1880 - first restaurant, lawyer, lumber yard

  • 1881
       

    1881 - City of Britt (incorporated)

    first marshal, mayor, Hancock County Fair

  • 1890
       

    1890 - first bowling alley

  • 1893
       

    1893 - second school built – a two-story, wooden structure

  • 1900
       

    1900 - first Hobo Convention

  • 1900
       

    1900 - football organized as first male sport

  • 1902
       

    1902 - first automobile

  • 1903
       

    1903 - brick addition to wooden school

  • 1904
       

    1904 - first auto repair shop

  • 1904
       

    1904 - Britt High School accredited as a four-year school

  • 1914
       

    1914 - girls basketball organized as first female sport

  • 1920
       

    1920 - Britt Grade School and High School built

  • 1924
       

    1924 - Hon. John Hammill elected governor of Iowa (1925-31)

    known as “the Good Roads Governor” (served as Lt. Gov. from 1920-24 under N.E. Kendall)

  • 1927
       

    1927 - one of the first junior colleges in Iowa begins in Britt

  • 1933
       

    1933 - Hobo Band (Hobo Drum Corps) organized

  • 1948
       

    1948 - Baseball State Champions

  • 1951
       

    1951 - junior college closes permanently

  • 1952
       

    1952 - Baseball State Champions

  • 1953
       

    1953 - Hancock County Memorial Hospital opens

  • 1954
       

    1954 - Britt Community School forms

    (reorganization incorporating rural schools)

  • 1956
       

    1956 - Britt High School built

  • 1956
       

    1956 - present Britt High School built

  • 1957
       

    1957 - BIDCO (Britt Industrial Development Corporation) forms

  • 1960
       

    1960 - Hancock County Little Theatre (community theatre) forms

  • 1961
       

    1961 - Wrestling State Champions

  • 1962
       

    1962 - Wrestling State Champions

  • 1964
       

    1964 - Fire claims three major two-story downtown buildings

  • 1966
       

    1966 - Hancock County Historical Society founded

  • 1969
       

    1969 - Larson-Armstrong House donated to Hancock County Historical Society

  • 1971
       

    1971 - Wrestling State Champions

  • 1972
       

    1972 - Wrestling State Champions

  • 1973
       

    1973 - Football State Champions

  • 1973
       

    1973 - Wrestling State Champions

  • 1974
       

    1974 - Boys Track State Champions

  • 1976
       

    1976 - West Hancock County Ambulance Service forms

  • 1976
       

    1976 - new addition to Britt High School built

  • 1976
       

    1976 - addition to Britt High School built

  • 1978
       

    1978 - Britt Centennial celebrated

  • 1978
       

    1978 - Boys Track State Champions

  • 1979
       

    1979 - Boys Track State Champions

  • 1980
       

    1980 - Girls Basketball State Champions

  • 1981
       

    1981 - Boys Golf State Champions

  • 1981
       

    1981 - Hobo Museum Opens

    (in former Chief Movie Theatre)

  • 1982
       

    1982 - first Draft Horse Show held

  • 1986
       

    1986 - Girls Golf State Champions

  • 1990
       

    1990 - Hobo Cemetery formed

  • 1992
       

    1992 - Boys Track State Champions

  • 1992
       

    1992 - Hobo Jungle becomes permanent

  • 1996
       

    1996 - Football State Champions

  • 1996
       

    1996 - Girls Track State Champions

  • 2003
       

    2003 - new Britt Elementary School built

  • 2003
       

    2003 - Hancock County Agricultural Museum opens at Fairgrounds

  • 2007
       

    2007 - Boys Track State Champions

  • 2008
       

    2008 - Boys Track State Champions

  • 2009
       

    2009 - Britt Aquatic Center opens

  • 2016
       

    2016 - Girls Track State Champions

  • 2017
       

    2017 - Hobo Days Committee assumes museum ownership

  • 2019
       

    2019 - Football State Champions

TODAY