History of Community
Some were named after people and others because of their location. Coggon was first known as Manhattan and was founded by W.J. Bruce, way back in the 1850's. Manhattan was afterwards commonly known as Green's Mill later as Nugent's Grove.
Semi-officially, the Green's Mill settlement was referred to as Nugent before the railroad was projected. The maps that were printed and those that chartered the proposed route of the railroad identified the Green's Mill station as Nugent.
Postal authorities preferred one word for the name of a town and hence in January of 1883, they shortened the name of Nugent's Grove to Nugent. The proximity of the post office prompted the railroad company to accept the name of Nugent for its station at Green's Mill in an endeavor to clarify destination of the mail and entice relocation of the post office to the Green's Mill site.
It was against the law to have two towns in the state with the same name so the founder of the mill decided a new name was in order. The Green family suggested a return to the original name; the Nugent clan objected. However, both fractions agreed to let a third person make the selection.
When the rails reached the town, a banquet was held at the Clemons House, it being recently constructed. Senator Dows, a former Iowa State Senator and promoter of the railroad, and Supt. Spaulding of England were here to supervise construction of the railroad. The name Coggon was suggested by Mr. T. Spaulding who had recently received a letter from his cousin William Coggon of England.
It has that name now, and probably will have until the end of time. You might search a thousand years and not find a better name; for there is not another town of the same name in the US and we know of none in the world.
Semi-officially, the Green's Mill settlement was referred to as Nugent before the railroad was projected. The maps that were printed and those that chartered the proposed route of the railroad identified the Green's Mill station as Nugent.
Postal authorities preferred one word for the name of a town and hence in January of 1883, they shortened the name of Nugent's Grove to Nugent. The proximity of the post office prompted the railroad company to accept the name of Nugent for its station at Green's Mill in an endeavor to clarify destination of the mail and entice relocation of the post office to the Green's Mill site.
It was against the law to have two towns in the state with the same name so the founder of the mill decided a new name was in order. The Green family suggested a return to the original name; the Nugent clan objected. However, both fractions agreed to let a third person make the selection.
When the rails reached the town, a banquet was held at the Clemons House, it being recently constructed. Senator Dows, a former Iowa State Senator and promoter of the railroad, and Supt. Spaulding of England were here to supervise construction of the railroad. The name Coggon was suggested by Mr. T. Spaulding who had recently received a letter from his cousin William Coggon of England.
It has that name now, and probably will have until the end of time. You might search a thousand years and not find a better name; for there is not another town of the same name in the US and we know of none in the world.