Saturday, July 18, 2009

Buena Vista!




On one of our days off we decided to drive to Buena Vista and this is what we learned .......
The founding of Buena Vista was done primarily by one man, Benjamin C. Moomaw in the late 1800s. Mr. Moomaw had originally founded a town named Green Forest with only a tannery. After the railroads had been built in 1880, he began to dream of a much larger city.
Mr. Moomaw soon secured several other businesses including a pulp mill and a canning factory but still needed more to become a sizable city. Then in 1882, the first industry was built... it was Appold & Sons Tannery. Several other industries would open by 1888.

At the end of 1888, the Buena Vista Company was organized and began selling stock. Within 30 days all of the stock was sold for a total of $400,000. After the sale, it was time to lay out the town and begin recruiting both people and industries. It was then that the town was to be named Buena Vista. It would initially consist of 13,140 acres.

Buena Vista was granted its Charter as a town from the State in January 1890. Buildings were popping up everywhere... hotels, churches, businesses, railroads, and homes (many of which are featured in the Landmarks section). After much prosperity, the state granted a Charter for Buena Vista to become a city on February 15, 1892.
We enjoy driving around little towns like Buena Vista, I love the sign in the picture above (that sign is the first thing you see when you enter the town of Buena Vista).

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