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Buena Vista County

City of Rembrandt

In 1899, the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad began constructing a new railroad from Storm Lake, Iowa, to New Ulm, Minnesota, and created 14 new towns along this line, of which Rembrandt was the second one from the south. With the town plat drawn in the middle of an established community of Norwegian immigrants, the assigned name of "Rembrandt" was not immediately popular, locally. Area people referred to the new venture by using the name of the Norwegian-American farmer who had previously owned the property on which the town sat: "Orsland." There was quite a struggle with the names and road accesses before the official vote, on July 10, 1901, formally approved the incorporation of Rembrandt. The turn-of-the farm economy in this area was still predominantly subsistence agriculture--dominated by barter, with very little cash exchanged, or available. The new rail line afforded the town's new businesses the opportunity to bring in needed farm supplies such as tile and lumber, and the first twenty years saw many improvements made to the surrounding land. As well, new rail access to the national economy allowed farmers to produce and sell excess grain, bringing money to the area as never before. The boom in American grain prices as the Great War consumed Europe brought prosperity to rural Iowa as land prices increased 10-fold in just 20 years. By 1920, Rembrandt's business district was essentially complete with two banks; three grain elevators; two general stores; stand-alone hardware; drug and restaurant businesses; a hotel; a dray line and livery firm with a blacksmith across the street; and opera house where silent movies were shown; and the grand, brand-new Rembrandt consolidated School building. Due to the Victorian local rule that dictated that only un-married women could teach school here, many educated young ladies came to Rembrandt to teach school in the succeeding years. Quite a number found husbands among the young lads of the greater farming community, and raised families that were held to higher cultural standards than had prevailed previously. Expectations of excellence contributed to a healthy, close-knit environment as Rembrandt evolved, and by the middle of the 20th century Rembrandt was alive with school and church activities, with amateur baseball and community band concerts generating broad enthusiasm and support as well. The people who were involved in those activities carry life-long good memories, as evidenced by the faithful turnout for the annual Rembrandt All-School Banquet. In recent years, as the need for small farm-support businesses has declined across the Midwest, Rembrandt has re-defined itself as a safe and secure place to live for people who may work elsewhere. The surviving banking, restaurant, seed, lawn care, and repair businesses claim customers from a wide area. The local Fire Department prides itself on its First-Responder capabilities, and the new fire station on Main Street is evidence of the community's support for the volunteer efforts. And two lighted Little League scale baseball/softball facilities keep Rembrandt's historical interest in diamond play alive.