Siegel is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 in Douglas Township

Douglas Township, Bremer County, Iowa

Douglas Township is one of fourteen townships in Bremer County, Iowa, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 405.-Geography:Douglas Township covers an area of and contains no incorporated settlements. According to the USGS, it contains four cemeteries: Alcock, Saint Johns Lutheran, St...

 in Bremer County, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Founded in 1889, the community ceased to exist in the 1940s. Today all this left of the settlement is St. John's United Church of Christ of Siegel

St. John's United Church of Christ of Siegel

St. John's United Church of Christ is a church in Douglas Township in Bremer County, Iowa. Founded in 1874 by German settlers in the area of the now-defunct town of Siegel. The church has been in continuous operation and remains active, although the membership has declined from its high in the...

.

Geography

Siegel was located on present-day Kildeer Avenue, one mile west of U.S. Route 63

U.S. Route 63

U.S. Route 63 is a long north–south United States highway primarily in the Midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at Interstate 20 in Ruston, Louisiana. The northern terminus is at U.S. Route 2 in Benoit, Wisconsin, about east of Duluth, Minnesota. It is not related to U.S...

 and between 160th Street and 150th Street.

History of the area

Primarily settled by Germans, Siegel was named by Frederick Schultz, Jr., the first postmaster of the Siegel post office. The settlement was likely named after Union General Franz Sigel

Franz Sigel

Franz Sigel was a German military officer, revolutionist and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician, and served as a Union major general in the American Civil War.-Early life:...

 who recruited hundreds of German-American soldiers for the Union Army during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. In fact, many Iowans served under General Sigel first in Missouri at the Battle of Wilson's Creek

Battle of Wilson's Creek

The Battle of Wilson's Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri, between Union forces and the Missouri State Guard, early in the American Civil War. It was the first major battle of the war west of the Mississippi River and is sometimes...

 and later in General U.S. Grant's Army of the Potomac

Army of the Potomac

The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...

.

The post office at Siegel was established on June 26, 1889 but was closed on September 15, 1900. However, a creamery and general store remained until the 1940s.

Today, all that is left of Siegel is St. John's United Church of Christ of Siegel

St. John's United Church of Christ of Siegel

St. John's United Church of Christ is a church in Douglas Township in Bremer County, Iowa. Founded in 1874 by German settlers in the area of the now-defunct town of Siegel. The church has been in continuous operation and remains active, although the membership has declined from its high in the...

.