Old Railroad Prairie
A Separate Parcel. The Old Railroad Prairie is located a few hundred yards west of the farm -- in the center of the town of Maloy, Iowa.
Railroads and Iowa Towns. Many small towns in Iowa were founded when the railroads were built. Maloy began in the 1870s when a railroad line was built through the area. By the 1980s, the railroad track was being dismantled, and the railroad property was divvied up among adjacent landowners. The Catholic Parish in Maloy received a portion. Sister Bernadine Pieper created a plan to use the land for a prairie planting and a grove of native nut trees. In 1989, Sister Bernadine, John Zeitler, and other volunteers made it happen. Many people helped in maintaining the prairie, but as the years went on, I became the main one doing that work. Thus, when the parish was being closed, I agreed to take over ownership of the parcel with the prairie.