Outstanding Facts on Treynor
It's growing - come to Treynor to experience the best life has to offer! The name Iowa is interpreted to mean "this is the place". That would be the earliest name for this location if the early day settlers had a name for it. At the time (1804-1860), the history of the community was the same as the rest of Pottawattamie County, and with the thought that it may interest you to learn the how and why of the opening of a new land to the settlers, we have included these tidbits of history, adapted and quoted from the book "History of the Community of Treynor, Iowa by the Treynor Town and Country Club, 1961.

• Did you know how the name of Treynor came about? In 1893, a salesman by the name of Fritz Ehrig was visiting this bustling town and he recommended that a post office be established here. He proposed this, with a signed petition, to the Council Bluffs postmaster, only to be turned down. The salesman persisted and told the postmaster that if he approved this post office, they would name the town after him. Postmaster Treynor accepted the offer, a post office was established and the name of the town was changed to Treynor. Before that, Treynor held many names, such as Four Corners, Eybergsville, Hi-Five (which was due to many citizens gathering on a regular basis for a card game called Hi-Five) and sometimes it was called just "Town".
  Another interesting namesake story came about in 1872 when two Saar brothers were breaking sod on both sides of Keg Creek. They found several kegs of whiskey stashed away on the banks of this unnamed stream, so first it was called Barrel Creek and later Keg Creek.
   
• During the time period of 1900-1910, the first school in Treynor was a one-room building on the north edge of Treynor. Another room was added around 1911. When the district was consolidated with outlying rural areas, a new building was erected in 1921 and the old 2-room school was sold to Dr. R. H. Stephens who converted it into a corn crib.
   
• On February 25, 1903, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Holst laid out a part of their farm into town lots, to encourage others to come and build, thus helping the town to grow. On each deed was the clause that there was not to be any intoxicating liquor sold on the property, in this way barring the erection of saloons.
   
• On February 21, 1904, the Treynor Bank had its share of excitement! It was broken into and robbed. The men made their getaway on their horses, which were bogged down in the mud on a hill west of town. They fled on foot, hiding in a barn on the Arthur Saar farm southwest of town, where they were later apprehended.
   
• In 1905, Treynor was Incorporated! The first mayor was Ferdinand Schoening. The businesses at this time were Treynor Savings Bank, two general stores, a furniture & implement house, a livery stable, two saloons, several blacksmith shops, and a number of small places of business. The independent school had an enrollment of 40 pupils.
   
• Early in 1910-1920, a high voltage electrical system was installed for $6000. Before that, many homes were lit by a home electric plant or carbide lights.
   
• On June 29, 1911, the Treynor Shortline railroad was dedicated. The cost to build this railroad, which was shut down five years later, was $300,000.
   
• Early in the winter of 1919-1920 a terrible coal shortage hit the nation, and Treynor, along with the rest of the states went under the Garfield orders whereby all businesses opened at 9:00 am and closed at 5:00 pm. Saturdays excepted. Churches were to remain closed except for a 3-hour service on Sundays. All social entertainments were called off, theaters, shows, dance halls, pool halls, bowling alleys, and other amusement places were ordered closed until further notice.
   
• The new building for Treynor High School was dedicated in March of 1923. During this same time, the price of haircuts were 50 cents.
   
• In 1925, the population of Treynor was 223, compared to 204 in 1920.
   
• During the summer of 1931, Treynor made the headlines from coast to coast. At Karrer's hall, the Miller-Steffan wedding dance was being held, and the floor collapsed under the weight of spectators with a good portion of the people falling into the basement. It's a wonder that no one was killed. There were, however, some broken bones and some bad cuts but no one was critically injured.
   
• It was during this era (1930-1940), that playing miniature golf became a favorite pastime with a playing area south of the alley and on the northwest corner of Holst Street and Volkens Avenue.
   
• In 1939, a new telephone dial system was installed. An addition was built to the current dial system structure in 1959 to care for the needs of the ever-growing community. The charges were $3.80 per month. Wow!
   
• 1948 was the year the citizens of Treynor gave cash donations to provide a lighted baseball diamond. Much time and effort was spent on the project to make a "dream come true".
   
• In 1955, a long-hoped for event happened. A water system was finally installed!!
   
• In 1959, the name of the well-traveled highway 100, was changed to Highway 92. Many times tourists were seen stopped alongside the road to verify their location, as the roadmaps hadn't kept up with the changes. Each year traffic gets heavier as people come to enjoy the nice straight road and passing lanes of Highway 92.
   
• 1960 brought much dirt moving and building, as 4 1/2 miles west of town and south of Highway 92, a large missile base was nearing completion. This was to be manned by 100 men as a means to protect the United States from attack by an enemy.

Time marches on. Four Corners - to Hi-Five - then Treynor. A wind swept prairie to a busy little metropolis. Because someone had a vision and others had faith and courage and unselfish desire to put their home town on the map.