Bailey
A ghost town in Bailey, Iowa, Bailey is filed here for what the record attaches to it. County conservation identifies Bailey as a ghost town at the northern end of the Wapsi–Great Western Line Trail beyond McIntire. The archive files it under ghost towns. The dossier holds 1 documented fact — a documented spine with no haunting reports attached. Visitor status is unverified; confirm before making the trip.
· in your passport — stamped · open it
Is Bailey haunted?
No claims are filed here — the record keeps this place for its documented history, not for a haunting on file.
The record — long form
Bailey was platted on November 20, 1886, by J. Austin Bailey and Isaac Carter in Wayne Township, near the Minnesota line — briefly called Wapsie, built as a station on the Chicago Great Western Railway above the Wapsipinicon River. The post office opened in 1887 with Mary J. Jordan as postmaster; the town incorporated in 1901 and reached its peak around 1918 at roughly 225 residents, with a bakery and grocery, a beekeeper, a grain-and-coal dealer, a dry-goods store, a school, and a ball team on record back to 1888.
A 1918 county history noted that the rivalry between Bailey and neighboring McIntire 'has hindered the substantial growth of both' — and so it proved. Residents voted to dissolve the incorporation in 1928; the post office closed in 1940; the school consolidated to Riceville. The last business was a garage.
What the site is now
Mitchell County conservation identifies Bailey as the ghost town at the north end of the Wapsi–Great Western Line Trail, the rail-trail conversion of the railroad that created it. The file's research note sets the boundary: the public trail establishes access to the corridor, not to the surrounding former-town parcels, and the founding, abandonment, and surviving fabric beyond the county account remain enrichment tasks. What the record holds is the town itself — platted, peaked, dissolved, and now a name on a trail map.
Documented history
County conservation identifies Bailey as a ghost town at the northern end of the Wapsi–Great Western Line Trail beyond McIntire. The town's documented rise and abandonment is the record the rest of the file stands on. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. The record appears in 'Wapsi-Great Western Line Trail'. It's the sort of fact that gives the haunting reports their context.
Verified historyMitchell County Conservation / My County Parks
Sources on file
- 01Wapsi-Great Western Line TrailMitchell County Conservation / My County Parks · government · A1
Field notes & open questions
Public trail does not establish permission for surrounding former-town parcels. Riceville welcome-center address is not Bailey. Founding, abandonment and surviving fabric require enrichment.