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You are here: Home / Tours / Swanson General Store

Swanson General Store

Posted on: 04.11.16 | by Mary

 


Swanson House History


Swanson-family

1940’s picture of the Swanson Family.
Left to right: Charles, Scennia, Mildred, Ester, Eileen, Agnes

Scennia

The Swanson House was built in 1911 for the purpose of income and living quarters for Mrs. Scennia Swanson and her five small children.

“In the fall of 1911, my mother was left a widow with five small children, ages ranging from five months (Mildred) to 10 years old. She left the farm in Grimes and built her home in Clive with the help of friends and neighbors. It was in this General Store and Post Office where she raised her family. Our home was very plain. No carpet on the floors. We lived in the upstairs. Only the living room was papered. The downstairs was used for the store, post office and general storage.”

–Mildred Swanson

Mrs. Scennia Swanson ran the store from 1911 to 1929. At that time it was turned into a two-story house where Scennia and Mildred lived out the rest of their lives.

Swanson's-General-Store

» Swanson General Store: 1911-1929
» Post Office: 1912-1929
» Private Swanson home until 1991
» CHS restores home as General Store & Post Office.

Upon Mildred’s death in 1991, she left the property in trust to the City of Clive with the stipulation that it be developed into a park. The city had no desire to work with the structure (house) and came to the historical society to see if they would want to restore the house to some functional capacity and manage it. For the Historical Society, it was a blessing in disguise. No one would wish for Mildred’s death, but with this property, a plan was devised for allowing the old depot to be moved across the street instead of to the new Campbell Park and a promise was make to restore the house to the original General Store.

Restoring the Swanson house back to the General Store cost approximately $45,000. The addition had to be removed and replaced, the interior was gutted to remove walls that had been added, floors had to be replaced that had been destroyed by termites. When our contractor removed the 13 layers of wall paper in the main rooms he could see exactly where the shelves had been in the store, so he built the shelves to match the original ones.

Categories: Tours Tags: Scennia Swanson, Swanson General Store

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Can you answer these questions?

1. When did the store open?
2. How many children did Scennia Swanson raise in the store?
3. What did children like the most about Swanson General store?

Find in the General Store!

Clive Historical Socieity Tapestry

Clive Historical Society Tapestry

Swanson’s General Store

  • General-Store-scales
    Swanson's General Store
  • CHS—Holiday-2003–4
    Swanson's General Store
  • CHS—Holiday-2003–5
    Swanson's General Store
  • General-Store
    Swanson's General Store
  • General-Store-2
    Swanson's General Store
  • Grampy-&-babies-in-General-
    Swanson's General Store
  • Inside-General-Store
    Swanson's General Store
  • Jonathan-&-Tammy
    Swanson's General Store
  • Kitchen
    Swanson's General Store
  • Kitchen (1)
    Swanson's General Store
  • Wide-shot—Kitchen
    Swanson's General Store
  • Mombaby—Mary-with-baby-Ro
    Swanson's General Store
  • Store-keeper
    Swanson's General Store
  • Store-keeper-with-Christmas
    Swanson's General Store
  • strkprcntr–winter-2003
    Swanson's General Store
  • Basket-of-Apples
    Swanson's General Store
  • Candy-Jars
    Swanson's General Store
  • Clock
    Swanson's General Store
  • Ice-skates
    Swanson's General Store
  • Lanterns (1)
    Swanson's General Store
  • CHS-Fall-2004
    Swanson's General Store
  • flag-spring-2003
    Swanson's General Store
  • General-Store-decorated-for
    Swanson's General Store
  • General-Store-with-ramp-and
    Swanson's General Store
  • Linda-Shanks-outside-of-Gen
    Swanson's General Store
  • Side-angle-General-Store-wi
    Swanson's General Store
  • Swanson-General-Store-with-
    Swanson's General Store
  • Swanson-House-sign
    Swanson's General Store
  • Swanson-House-sign—2004
    Swanson's General Store

Swanson House Restoration

  • Swanson-House-Restoration-1
    General Store Renovation
  • Swanson-House-Restoration-3
    General Store Renovation
  • Swanson-House-Restoration-4
    General Store Renovation
  • Swanson-House-Restoration-2
    General Store Renovation

Can you answer these questions?

1. What is a nearby city that people would ride to on the train?
2. How did they send messages between train depots?
3. What did the train carry to Clive?

Clive Depot

  • Old-Depot
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Milwaukee-Depot—Clive-1965
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Southern-Train
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Original-depot-with-train
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Original-inside-of-Depot
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Milwaukee-Depot—Clive-Iow
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Depot-burned-west
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Depot—burned
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • depotburntfront
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Inside-Depot
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Inside-view-of-burned-Depot
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Depot-being-moved-1993
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Moving-Depot—April-1993
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Moving-Depot-into-position
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Inside-Depot—2x4s
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Inside-Depot-under-construction
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Depot—first-winter-1995-
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Depot-in-Winter-unpainted
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Caboose—Depot
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Red-Caboose-&-Depot-2004
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Depot—framed-with-trees
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Fall-2004-Depot
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Red-Caboose—2004
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Red-Caboose-with-logo
    Clive Railroad Depot
  • Caboose-with-red-&-yellow-m
    Clive Railroad Depot - Track sign properly painted

Can you answer these questions?

1. From what word was “Caboose” derived?
2. Who was in charge of the train?
3. Can only men be Train Engineers?

Seasons

  • Rock-with-snow
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Park-Benches
    Changing of the Seasons - Park Bench - Donated by the Clive Good Idea Club
  • Clive-Depot-in-winter
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Park-bench
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Clive-sign-on-Depot
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Outhouse-in-winter
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Depot-&-Caboose-in-winter
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Clive-Founding-rock
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Swanson-House-sign-with-geraniums
    Changing of the Seasons - New siding and new signage, 2009
  • Outhouse-unpainted-2004
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Holiday-decorations
    Changing of the Seasons
  • CHS-Holiday-lights-2003
    Changing of the Seasons
  • The-Clive-Depot-in-Fall
    Changing of the Seasons - Clive Depot as it looks today
  • Wagon-wheels (1)
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Swanson-Memorial-Park-sign-
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Clive-Historical-Society-Bo
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Mildreds-Garden
    Mildred's Garden
  • Swing
    Changing of the Seasons - Park Swing - Donated in memory of Wes Franklin
  • Clive-General-Store
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Red-caboose-in-winter
    Changing of the Seasons
  • Swanson-Memorial-Park-rock
    Changing of the Seasons
Swanson-family

1940's picture of the Swanson Family.
Left to right: Charles, Scennia, Mildred, Ester, Eileen, Agnes

Mildred Swanson Stories

  • Across the Street
  • Ben Shepherd
  • The Neighborhood
  • Fourth of July in Clive around 1917
  • Government Housing In the 1930s
  • Looking Glass
  • Robert Anderson Family
  • A Sledding Experience
  • Swanson General Store
  • Thank You, Uncle Ben

Photo Galleries

  • CHS Events
  • Depot Artifacts
  • Depot Renovation
  • General Store Artifacts
  • General Store Renovation
  • Railroad Diorama
  • School Events
  • Yesterday & Today

Swanson General Store

  • General-Store-scales
    Swanson's General Store
  • CHS—Holiday-2003–4
    Swanson's General Store
  • CHS—Holiday-2003–5
    Swanson's General Store
  • General-Store
    Swanson's General Store
  • General-Store-2
    Swanson's General Store
  • Grampy-&-babies-in-General-
    Swanson's General Store
  • Inside-General-Store
    Swanson's General Store
  • Jonathan-&-Tammy
    Swanson's General Store
  • Kitchen
    Swanson's General Store
  • Kitchen (1)
    Swanson's General Store
  • Wide-shot—Kitchen
    Swanson's General Store
  • Mombaby—Mary-with-baby-Ro
    Swanson's General Store
  • Store-keeper
    Swanson's General Store
  • Store-keeper-with-Christmas
    Swanson's General Store
  • strkprcntr–winter-2003
    Swanson's General Store
  • Basket-of-Apples
    Swanson's General Store
  • Candy-Jars
    Swanson's General Store
  • Clock
    Swanson's General Store
  • Ice-skates
    Swanson's General Store
  • Lanterns (1)
    Swanson's General Store
  • CHS-Fall-2004
    Swanson's General Store
  • flag-spring-2003
    Swanson's General Store
  • General-Store-decorated-for
    Swanson's General Store
  • General-Store-with-ramp-and
    Swanson's General Store
  • Linda-Shanks-outside-of-Gen
    Swanson's General Store
  • Side-angle-General-Store-wi
    Swanson's General Store
  • Swanson-General-Store-with-
    Swanson's General Store
  • Swanson-House-sign
    Swanson's General Store
  • Swanson-House-sign—2004
    Swanson's General Store
  • Clive Cultural Festival – June 2016
    Maddie Zweibohmer and her mom, Krista, view the diorama of "Clive Corner circa 1930." Maddie's grandfather, Chuck Leibold of Clive, created the realistic HO scale model.
  • Railroad-dirt
    Railroad Diorama
  • Fields-with-grass
    Railroad Diorama
  • CliveModelRRArrivalsideview
    Railroad Diorama
  • railroad-with-buildings
    Railroad Diorama
  • CliveModelRRArrivalDaytime
    Railroad Diorama
  • MarilynFamilyStore
    Railroad Diorama
  • <strong>Railroad Diorama</strong>
    Railroad Diorama
  • NorthCliveRoad
    Railroad Diorama

Labor Day Picnic – 2016

  • old-time-string-pickers
    Clive Labor Day Picnic - 2016
    Old-time string pickers.
    Photo by: Bo Photography
  • fun-and-conversation
    Clive Labor Day Picnic - 2016
    Fun and conversation.
    Photo by: Bo Photography
  • railroad-man-waving-good-by
    Clive Labor Day Picnic - 2016
    Railroad man waving good-bye.
    Photo by: Bo Photography
  • community-gathering
    Clive Labor Day Picnic - 2016
    Community gathering.
    Photo by: Bo Photography
  • linda-joan
    Clive Labor Day Picnic - 2016
    Linda & Joan.
    Photo by: Bo Photography
  • old-time-sack-race
    Clive Labor Day Picnic - 2016
    Old-time sack race.
    Photo by: Bo Photography
  • everyone-loved-the-food_mod
    Clive Labor Day Picnic - 2016
    Everyone loved the food!
    Photo by: Bo Photography
  • bouncing-house-modern
    Clive Labor Day Picnic - 2016
    Modern bouncing house.
    Photo by: Bo Photography
  • registration-for-prize
    Clive Labor Day Picnic - 2016
    Registration for prize.
    Photo by: Bo Photography

Our Goals:

» Preserve Clive's History for Posterity
» Preserve its Historical Artifacts
» Serve as the Society's Headquarters
» Provide Community Events
» Open for Public Special Events
» Offer tours for schools and groups


Esther Hasting Miller Stories

  • The Old House in Clive
  • Our First Winter in Clive
  • Miracle of the Well – Part 1
  • Miracle of the Well – Part 2
  • Radio in the Winter
  • Winter in the Old House
  • Memories of the Railroad
  • Visitors – Some Welcome, Some Not
  • School Days in Clive – 1957 to 1960
  • Living off the Land
  • Summer Time and the Livin’ Was…

Esther-Hastings-6th-Grade - 1958

Esther Hastings
6th Grade – 1958

 

Esther Hastings
7th Grade – 1959

 

 

Approximate location of Hastings’ house in the late ’50s from Swanson Blvd.

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Congratulations!Jeff May, Clive’s public works director, has been named one of the American Public Works Associations’ 2022 Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year. businessrecord.com/Content/Default/All-Latest-News/Article/Clive-s-May-honored-as-a-top-public-wo... ... See MoreSee Less

Clive’s May honored as a top public works leader

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Jeff May, Clive’s public works director, has been named one of the American Public Works Associations’ 2022 Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year
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"My kids love playing in the park and exploring the Caboose. Great fun!"
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"My kids love playing in the park and exploring the Caboose. Great fun!"
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"This a fun, hidden jewel of a park. Picnic tables in the shade of a walnut tree. Free Wi-Fi. And several sandwich places nearby to get a quick picnic lunch."
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"My professional group can meet here for an out-of-the-ordinary venue. And, it’s free!"
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"Our 3rd grade class toured the Museum, General Store and Caboose. What a great educational experience! Thank you, Clive Historical Society!"
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"Our 3rd grade class toured the Museum, General Store and Caboose. What a great educational experience! Thank you, Clive Historical Society!"
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"My 6th grade daughter is working on a railroad history project and I just wanted to say thanks for making your website railroad page available. We've been looking for resources to cite and include, and your page has been a big help!"
Clive Historical Society
5
2017-10-29T06:17:12-05:00
"My 6th grade daughter is working on a railroad history project and I just wanted to say thanks for making your website railroad page available. We've been looking for resources to cite and include, and your page has been a big help!"
https://clivehistoricalsociety.org/testimonials/testimonial-5/
"Our school really enjoyed visiting the Clive Depot this spring. We had 8 children and 8 adults visit. The children talked about the toys they saw in the general store and the adults enjoyed learning some great history about Clive and the area surrounding the depot."
Clive Historical Society
5
2017-12-11T06:53:51-06:00
"Our school really enjoyed visiting the Clive Depot this spring. We had 8 children and 8 adults visit. The children talked about the toys they saw in the general store and the adults enjoyed learning some great history about Clive and the area surrounding the depot."
https://clivehistoricalsociety.org/testimonials/testimonial-6/
"It was very easy to communicate with members of the Historical Society in putting our visit together. They were ready for us when we arrived and the tour was informative and organized. I hope to make this field trip a tradition for my class!”
Clive Historical Society
5
2017-12-11T06:54:33-06:00
"It was very easy to communicate with members of the Historical Society in putting our visit together. They were ready for us when we arrived and the tour was informative and organized. I hope to make this field trip a tradition for my class!”
https://clivehistoricalsociety.org/testimonials/testimonial-7/
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