(22) Lucas County 7.04.2022

If you want to explore Lucas County, do not go on the 4^th of July as everything will be closed! We thought this would be a prime time to go because Chariton “does the 4^th of July like no one else!” Unfortunately, the whole county—including all restaurants—shut  down for the festivities!

It also needs to be said that Lucas County only has 5 “towns” in the entire county: Chariton, Lucas, Williamson, Russell, and Derby. After our research into Lucas County, we found that Williamson, Russell, and Derby did not have any landmarks or attractions so we passed up those towns which left just Lucas and Chariton.

One more side note, little fun fact, before we begin: Chariton has strong ties with the founding of Hy-Vee and is still the largest distribution center for Hy-Vee in at least all of Iowa.

 

We were hoping to start our day off at The Porch Coffee Shop, which is in the dual gables Payne House,
but unfortunately, as mentioned previously, it was closed.

 

Probably the most exciting part of the day was the first event of the day—the annual Flying Anvil 5K, but we weren’t there for the run. We were there for the sonic boom! The race is started each year by exploding an anvil which creates a sonic boom. Not gonna lie—that alone made the trip worth it!

 

After experiencing our first ever sonic boom, we headed up to the town square to enjoy the 4^th of July festivities. There was a local municipal band playing and throughout the day there were games and a talent show, and of course, it wouldn’t be a festival without some local “carni” rides, which the kids did enjoy!

Our choices for lunch were slim, as only 1 restaurant in Chariton was open—Chux, which is your typical ice cream stand with tenderloins and other fried foods.

If you’re in Chariton, you’ve got to go to Piper’s Meat, Grocery, and Candy Store. We did find out after entering, that you can get fresh cut sandwiches from the meat counter—next time! We did enjoy some homemade chocolates though—yum, yum!

 

We then decided to brave the sweltering heat to enjoy the parade- it was a standard, run of the mill parade, but the kids got some candy so they enjoyed it!

 

We wrapped up our time in Chariton by going to the Lucas County Historical Museum, which was another very well-done county museum, with 7 buildings (blacksmith, barn, log cabin, school house, church, county artefacts museum, and a turn of the century house). We got a personal guided tour by the Lucas County historian and really enjoyed learning about Lucas County’s history.

 

We did stop at Chux one more time for some ice cream because Double Dip was closed! On our way out of town we also made sure to stop by the two train depots.

 

We then made our way to Lucas, which is the home of the John L Lewis Museum, who was a coal and labor reformer in Lucas County. We knew it was going to be closed because of the 4^th, but we thought we’d at least make a stop in Lucas to explore what else it might have to offer . . . we were surprised to find a town almost fully graveled; this was definitely rural Iowa! We would like to go back for the antique stores someday!

We did think about stopping by Last Chance, Iowa, but seeing how all that’s left is the cemetery we decided to “miss our chance” and skip this stop 😊 Thus concludes Lucas County!

Return Rating: 1 

Other things to see/do:

• Cinder Path, Chariton
• Red Haw State Park, east of Chariton
• Pin Oak Marsh Lodge , Chariton (was closed due to tornado damage from earlier in the spring ’22)