Gladbrook, Iowa. Birthplace of Clifford Berry

Gladbrook, Iowa, doesn't give off the feeling of early twentieth century wealth that Iowa Falls presents to a visitor. But it does offer some unique treats for the visitor and has some historic significance. Gladbrook is a town of about one thousand located some fifty miles to the southeast of Iowa Falls.

Gladbrook was the birthplace of Clifford Berry, half of the developers of the Atanasoff-Berry-Computer at Iowa State in 1939-40. I knew the street that the Berry family lived on but not the address. Berry's father was the local manager of Iowa Power which also was responsible for creating radio station KFIK in Gladbrook in the 1920-23 era. I soon discovered that the library here doesn't open until noon and we were a bit early.

I spent some time peeking in the window of the Matchstick Marvels Museum while I waited.


Unfortunately, the museum is only open from April through November. The view through the window showed an impressive ship made of matchsticks and I discovered from one of the people in the adjoining City Hall that some other exhibits are "on tour" when the museum is closed.

Back at the library, I found a very helpful librarian who located a copy of the town's centennial book, 1880-1980 with a couple of references to the Berry family. She also pointed me to Toledo, the county seat of Tama county where Gladbrook is located.