Part 4 Van Wert History After the burial of his baby Dr. Powell decided to locate here, and his wife taught one of the first, if not the first term of school in this district. The school house stood where Clyde Gould now resides and the land on which it stood was donated by Mr. Steen for school purposed. In all we have had four school building, the first being a log schoolhouse referred to above; the second was a frame building, 22 by 28 feet in size, built in 1872 at a cost of $465. The third was built in 1885, on the lots where J. a. Hawkins now lives, costing $2,700. The present building was erected in 1918 at a cost of $21,000. The last bonds were paid off in April of 1936. It was a great day when we got our first railroad. This occurred in 1880 and in October of that year there gathered an immense crowd of people some of whom are living still to witness the coming in of the first regular train over the then called Humeston and Shenandoah road. The crowd then was perhaps never surpassed at the place until years later when Theodore Roosevelt, then president of the United States spoke to the people who had gathered on the same spot to listen as America's first citizen made his Van Wert speech. Two years later the Des Moines and Cainsville road was built through Van Wert and located their first depot just west of main street of today. I ought also to mention as of special interest the coming of our first bank. This bank was started and operated for a short time by Mr. Shaw who later sold out to the bank of Van Wert and organized in 1900, "The Van Wert State Bank." This bank operated until 1930.