KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE IN OUR TOWN ELKADER

ELKADER, Iowa (KCRG) - People are keeping history alive in Our Town Elkader, whether that’s through pictures from the 1800s, or a four-story shop that brings memories to life. Local historian David Beck has influences all over Our Town Elkader and knows all about the town’s history.

“There’s a lot of history in every building,” Beck said. “There’s pre-histories of the buildings that are there now, but it’s also vibrant because those buildings are all in use.”

Our Town Elkader draws people in for all kinds of reasons.

“We’ve always had a good core group of merchants and people who promote the arts, and entertainment,” Beck said. “We have a movie theater, we have a live theater with the Opera House. It still has that historic charm, but it’s also progressive.”

One of the shops bringing people in is the Turkey River Mall, in a building that used to be a hotel back in 1897.

“There’s about 60 different vendors who have their own areas and we’re full top to bottom side to side, big variety, antiques, gifts, collectibles, rocks, minerals, a little dab of everything,” said Turkey River Mall Owner Becky Dietzler. “I average 1,000 plus people a month coming through. I started keeping count in July of 2005, and through last year December, I’ve had like 321,000 people come through. It’s become a destination and I love it.”

A destination, that they also traveled to make happen. “We moved here from Alaska,” Dietzler said. “It was just a fluke, I guess, or luck. My husband came down first and fell in love with the town and called and said, ‘I bought a house.”

Now, her shop is full of memories. “A lot of people say it’s like a walk down memory lane when they come in,” Dietzler said.

2025-07-16T12:05:47Z