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The earliest record of any settlement is in 1854; one of the earliest in Carroll County. In 1853, Obediah Niles, a Yankee by birth, came from Michigan. He purchased 200 acres of land from the government and the tract included almost all of the present town site. He built a log house on a hill on the east side of town.
Jacob Cretsinger lived on Wilson Hill, east of the mill. He carried mail from Panora to Sioux City on horseback. Anxious to have a mail station nearer his home, he petitioned the government for a post office for Coon Rapids and suggested the name.
This met with much disagreement and heated discussion. Other names suggested were: Nile’s Grove, Tuttle’s Grove, Fairview, Ribbleton, and Aurora, but Jacob won out with his favorite, Coon Rapids.
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