City of Chelsea, Iowa

CHELSEA CITY HALL
600 Station Street
Chelsea, IA  52215
(641) 489-2525
chelseacityhall@iowatelecom.net
 www.tamacountyiowa.org/chelsea

QUICK AND EASY INFO

• Chelsea, Iowa Fact Sheet
• Chelsea Area Employment
• 300+ Places with Fun Things to Do
• Chelsea area Calendar of Events

CITY LEADERS
Council meets monthly, 1st Monday, 7 pm
Leif Morris, Mayor (2012-2014)
Craig Forcht (2012-2014)
Kurt Kelley (2012-2014)
Steve VanDeWalle (2012-2014)
Dixie Forcht (2012-2014)
Aaron Balvin (2012-2014)
Melissa Balvin, City Clerk
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THE STORY OF CHELSEA, IOWA
Less than a mile east of where the present Chelsea is located, Otter Creek Station once existed.  By the end of 1861, the Chicago, Iowa, and Nebraska Railroad, later known as the Chicago and Northwestern, had extended westward that far into Iowa.  When Otter Creek Station was moved about three-quarters of a mile west to the present location of Chelsea, and the railroad extended westward, the name was changed.  One story has it that S.G. Breese, one of the original owners of land near the site, named it for Chelsea, MA, from where he had emigrated.  Another is that John I. Blair named it for Chelsea, England.

In the history of Chelsea, floods have often played havoc with the town and its environs but its citizens return and carry on the tradition of hardiness.

Chelsea lies along the original Lincoln Highway route which was America’s first “coast-to-coast” highway.  The original steel bridge on the Lincoln Highway in Chelsea was replaced in 1928-29 with the Otter Creek Bridge, which in turn had to be replaced in 2007.  Citizens of Chelsea encouraged the preservation of the lamp posts which graced the old bridge railings.  That action brought high accolades from the National Lincoln Highway Association.