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Community History
Thornton was founded in 1885 and incorporated in 1892. The first mayor was J.D. Barlow with A.C. Bailey, George Downing, H.M. Johnson, James Powell and C.F. Alberty listed as councilmen. Mr. Barlow is credited with being very instrumental in the early develop¬ment of Thornton.
An article in the newspaper of May 19, 1892 states that A.J. Lawrence went to Geneva to procure trees for the park. The story is told that women of the community carried water to these trees to aid their growth. The soil in this area was believed to be poor for trees and much effort went into helping these trees early growth. Pictures taken of Thornton in its first days certainly verify the fact that Thornton was a treeless community.
A newspaper was started in Thornton in 1892 and was called the Thornton Enter¬prise. The editor was a cousin of the famous newspaperman and bore his name, Horace Greeley.
Businesses advertising in the Thornton Enterprise on May 19, 1892 were as follows:
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Bank of Thornton - capital $10,000 and responsibility $200,000 |
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Barlow and Lawrence - dealers in grain (which tells us that Mr. Lawrence did set up his grain buying business in Thornton) |
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City Hotel - Asa Bailey, Prop. |
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City Restaurant - J.T. Powell, Prop., warm meals at all hours, temperance drinks |
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Ford and Wood – dray |
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Gregory and Alberty -contractors and builders |
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Henry Beck - painter, calsominer and decorator |
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Schneider and Schroeder - dry goods and clothing |
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Sidney Seney - contractor |
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Two blacksmith shops - Ingersoll and son at 2nd St. Westside and A.E. Chase with shop at the corner of Main and 2nd St. |
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Wimmer and Spindler -wagons, buggies, binders, mowers, and windmills |
The population of Thornton in 1905 was listed as 293 while all of rural Grimes township was 482.
Thornton's main street has been the victim of many major fires. Records could not be found but indications are there were three or four severe ones. One fire was October 22, 1908 and there had been three fires in the preceding seven months. These fires help to explain why all of Thornton's buildings on main street are of brick or a fireproof material.
Early pictures of Thornton show board sidewalks. When these were cemented could not be determined but must have been a most welcome change
In 1908 the first "Roast Oxen Day" was held in Thornton. The menu for this town and country festival was barbecued steer, boiled ham, cheese, sweet pickles, bananas, thirty large cakes, buttered buns, hot coffee, iced tea, and iced water. After the dinner a baby contest was held with the winner Helen Irene Arnold and second place going to Leona Gross. This event, believed to be the brainchild of Ray Seyney, was held annually for many years and was very popular indeed. Heritage Days in 1976 revived the Roast Ox Day to help celebrate our nation’s bicentennial.
Thornton continued its growth with the twentieth century. The coming of World War I and World War II had a dramatic and changing effect on the lives of every rural community and Thornton was no exception. There is little that can be said about these two conflicts that historians haven't told us in many profound ways.
Thornton started its modernization program by installing a city water system which was completed July 21, 1939. A less aesthetic improvement in Thornton, but certainly a long awaited service, occurred when Mayor Leonard Anderson turned on the valve at the pumping station on August 16, 1967 and Thornton was fueled by natural gas. Thornton continued its modernization by installing a sewer system in 1969.
A sad note of the 1960's & 1970's was the loss of our beautiful elm trees to Dutch Elm Disease. When we realize the work the early pioneers did to start these trees we can only hope this generation of Thorntonites will replace them soon.
This map of Thornton was dated in 1896. It was the last township to be settled due to its location and the condition of the land.
School History
The Thornton school building was built in 1936 after the previous school burned in a large fire. In 1955, a large addition, including a gymnasium, library, offices, and additional classrooms was added. In 1963, the building became the high school, and later the Jr.-Sr. High, for the combined Meservey-Thornton school district. Due to declining enrollments, in 1983 the Meservey building was closed and the Thornton facility was again used for grades K-12. In 1988, Meservey-Thornton began whole-grade sharing with Sheffield-Chapin school district, and the building was used as an elementary and middle-school.
The Meservey-Thornton mascot was the "Lancers". When the high school classes moved to Sheffield in 1988, the Lancer mascot was retained for the middle-school sports teams. However, with the S-C and M-T districts formally merging in 2007, the Lancer mascot was officially retired with a parade in July, 2007.
Due to declining enrollment, the former S-C, M-T, and neighboring Rockwell-Swaledale school districts entered a whole-grade sharing agreement to become the West Fork school district in 2008, with the "Warhawks" as the new mascott. The Thornton building closed after the 2007-08 season after 72 years of service, and all students now attend Sheffield and Rockwell. Each remaining school will have K - 3, Rockwell will house 4 - 8 and Sheffield 9 - 12.
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