Josiah Hopkins’ 20-Mile House

Inscription

Josiah Hopkins' 20-Mile House

The Josiah & Mahala Hopkins House (1848) served the community as a post office and early stagecoach stop on the route from Fort Des Moines to Fort Dodge. It was dubbed 20-Mile House for its location 20 miles from Fort Des Moines. Locally, the home was known as a station on the Underground Railroad. An abolitionist preacher, Hopkins came to Iowa in the 1840s from southern Missouri and eastern Kansas. He donated land from his grove for a church and a school. Members of the Hopkins Grove United Brethren Church, then near this site, likely supported an end to slavery in the U.S. When the Civil War began, Hopkins recruited area men to fight against slavery. The local church suffered great loss; many men were killed or injured during the war. Hopkins was asked to leave the church. He and Mahala returned to Kansas in 1865 and the church moved out of the grove to its present location 1/2 mile north.

Erected by Big Creek Historical Society and the State Historical Society of Iowa with funding support from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. 2024.