With a population of less than 30,000 people, Mason City, Iowa has an amazing amount of history and what I can say is that it truly took me by surprise. We settled into the Margaret MacNider Campground a sizable, bucolic campground on the Winnebago River. With 100 sites, we found this to be an impressive in-town campground.
Incorporated in 1870, Mason City is home to Meredith Willson, who wrote the play, The Music Man, in 1957. The film premiered at the city’s Palace Theater in 1964 and is based on characters from his hometown. Willson died in 1984 and is buried in the Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery in the town where he was born and lived his life.
Another surprise? At the turn of the 20th century, famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, was commissioned to build a mixed-use structure incorporating the Historic Park Inn, a bank and retail shops right here in little Mason City. Completed in 1910, over the years the structure fell into disrepair. In 2005 local preservationists organized to save the building which reopened to its original glory in 2011. Also found here is Wright’s Stockman House built in 1908 and billed as a more affordable, ‘fire proof’, prairie-style home at $5,000. Located just a few blocks from the Historic Park Inn, the Stockman House is open for tours.
In 1959 at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, a 10-minute drive from Mason City, a concert by Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens became their final performance when their plane crashed into a field. The loss of these musical legends, often referred to as ‘The Day the Music Died’, is commemorated still today as the Surf Ballroom holds their February Winter Dance Party in celebration of these musicians.
Other notable happenings here in Mason City include Charles Lindbergh who attended the dedication of the airport in 1927; and the notorious John Dillinger who, as he was known to do, unlawfully withdrew money from the First National Bank in 1934.
Saving the best for last, in 1931 Addison and Esther Birdsall opened Birdsall Ice Cream Company in a small building in Mason City. Over the years the town’s favorite ice cream shop is said to have brought couples together who worked here and the number of cones scooped continues to grow.
Today, Birdsall’s is owned by two local couples and continues to put smiles on customers’ faces (proprietor Gary Schmit, below). The line I waited patiently in was just about out the door but oh so worth the wait! One of my most favorite ice creams in the whole world, and no longer found at ice creams establishments (I know because I always hold my breath while perusing ice cream choices on the menu) is Butter Brickle. That creamy, buttery ice cream with little chunks of brickle that makes my heart happy can be found right here in Mason City at Birdsall’s! I made one stop for a single-scoop cone then returned for a quart and if there was more room in my Airstream freezer, well, it’s a good thing it’s a small freezer!
Camp Dawg 