Eliot Township, Louisa County, Iowa

The Red Ball Garage, also known as the Ed Neil Garage, is a historic building located in Swedesburg, Iowa, United States. The building is located along what was known as the Military Road. Because of the marshy land in the area, wagons and buggies had to be pulled out of the mud. In 1913 the road became a part of the Red Ball Route, a highway that linked the Minneapolis/St. Paul area with St. Louis. It received its name from the highway signs used to mark the route. The highway was paved from 1929 to 1930, and later became U.S. Route 218 until it was moved to the east as a four lane-highway in the 1990s. This property has been the location of vehicle-oriented businesses since 1870 when a blacksmith shop opened here. It was followed by a blacksmith and wagon-making business. As automobiles started to replace wagons the blacksmith shop was replaced by a garage. This single-story, brick building was built in 1929, replacing the original wood garage. It was remodeled in 1944 to include a Studebaker dealership. The dealership was closed in 1966 when Ed Neil bought the business. It continued to house a garage and small motor repair shop until 1998. The Swedish Heritage Museum acquired the building that year, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

The Swedesburg Historic Commercial District, also known as the Swedish Heritage Museum, is a nationally recognized historic district in Swedesburg, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. At the time of its nomination it consisted of four resources, which included three contributing buildings and one non-contributing building. The three historic buildings housed commercial businesses beginning in an era when this unincorporated community was a settlement of Swedish immigrants. It is not known when the first retail establishment was built here, by the Berg Hardware Store, the frame building furthest to the west, was constructed in 1875. The Sam White General Store, the middle frame building, was completed in 1881. Both of these buildings were moved to their present location when the Farmers Union Exchange was built in 1928. This building type, a frame structure with the "boomtown" front, was typical of frontier towns and were replaced by brick buildings as the town grew. However, in many small towns in Iowa, this style continued to be the norm. The brick veneer and the aluminum siding above it were added to the front of the building in 1964. The Farmers Union Exchange had been formed after the Anderson and Nelson Store moved their business and their building north to Olds, Iowa. The White store building was joined to the new building for extra space, and the Berg building was used for storage. The store remained in operation until 1976. The complex was acquired by the Swedish Heritage Society for a museum in 1990, and opened the following year. The fourth, and non-contributing building, was built as a garage in 1928. It was converted into a stuga, a small Swedish cottage, by the museum so visitors could see what immigrants to this community left behind in the old country.

Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church, now known as Swedesburg Evangelical Lutheran Church, is a historic church located in Swedesburg, Iowa, United States. The congregation was officially organized in 1866 by the Swedish Lutheran congregation from New Sweden in Jefferson County, Iowa. The present church was built in 1928 as the third church to stand on the same site. The first frame church, built in 1868, was destroyed in a fire in 1883. The second frame church, with a 110-foot (34 m) tower, was completed the same year. In 1927 it too was also destroyed by fire. The congregation hired Burlington, Iowa architect W.F. Weibley to design the present Late Gothic Revival church building. It is composed of tan brick with Bedford stone trim. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The congregation began to use English instead of Swedish in their programming beginning with the children's Sunday School classes in 1910. The men's Sunday School class was the last group to switch to English in the 1920s. The Rev. Delmar Karstens, who was called in 1966, was the first pastor who was not of Swedish descent. The congregation, however, continued to observe its Swedish traditions.

The Charles E. Hult House, Summer Kitchen and Wood Shed are historic buildings located in Swedesburg, Iowa, United States. Hult was a native of Jämshög in Sweden who emigrated to the United States in 1854. He initially settled in Illinois and fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He relocated to Iowa in 1866 and settled on this 80-acre (32 ha) farm, making the Hult's among the first Swedish settlers in Wayne Township. They settled here after the Lutheran Church across the road was founded, but before the village of Swedesburg was established. Hult built the original part of the house in 1867, and expanded it to two stories around 1882 and added the kitchen wing. Charles and Charlotta were known for their hospitality. New settlers waiting for their own houses to be built, clergy who came here for conferences, travelers in need of rescue from the poor roads after a storm, and visitors to the community from Sweden all found accommodation here. The house became known as the "Swedesburg Hotel." After Charles and Charlotta died, their son Albert and his family lived in the house followed by his daughter Inez. The house is a common residential form known as Folk Victorian. The summer kitchen behind the house was used for canning and baking. It and the wood shed were built about 1890. The three buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

The John Hultquist House is a historic building located in Swedesburg, Iowa, United States. Hultquist was a native of Småland in Sweden who immigrated to this country in 1880. After working for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad he began farming and he was eventually able to buy 200 acres (81 ha) of land for his own farm north of town. In 1918 Hultquist employed C.K. Schantz to build this two story, frame, American Foursquare for him and his second wife Amanda after his retirement. It was fairly common for the early Swedish immigrants in Wayne Township to relocate to Swedesburg after they retired from farming so as to maintain their Swedish traditions. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The historic designation also includes a small barn to the east of the house. The front gable structure originally housed horses, a cow and chickens.

Wayne Township is a township in Henry County, Iowa, United States.

Swedesburg is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in northern Henry County, Iowa, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census.

Olds is a city in Henry County, Iowa, United States. The population was 192 at the time of the 2020 census.

The Winfield-Mt. Union Community School District, or WMU, is a public school district headquartered in Winfield, Iowa. It spans Henry, Louisa, Des Moines and Washington counties, and serves the city of Winfield, the census-designated place of Mount Union, and the surrounding rural areas. Jeff Maeder became superintendent in 2015, and also became the superintendent of Columbus Community School District in 2020, after the school board agreed to a shared position.

Winfield is a city in Henry County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,033 at the time of the 2020 census.

Scott Township is a township in Henry County, Iowa, USA.

The Pleasant Lawn School Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located northeast of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. At the time of its nomination it consisted of three resources, all of which are contributing buildings. This is the only intact example of a consolidated rural school district in Iowa. It consists of a two-story brick school building (1917), a two-story frame teacherage (1917), and a hack barn. A gymnasium was added to the school building in 1941. The school was still in existence when the buildings were added to the National Register. Consolidated schools in rural areas were an attempt to increase the tax base and to improve the educational opportunities that were offered by these small public schools. There were about 47 such districts in the state by 1920, and by 1930 there were 89 rural districts. This school was a combination of four school districts: School No. 4 in Marion Township, and Ebenezer, Wesley, and Everett Schools in Canaan Township. Voters approved the consolidation in 1916. While several of these schools were centered around small towns, many were like this one that was located far enough away from town that it was difficult for teachers to get to the schools. A teacherage was built to house them at the school. Students were brought to school in a horse-drawn hack. The barn was used to house the horses during the school day.