Etzel Brothers
John Etzel and his brother George were prominent businessmen during the development of Clear Lake from 1875 to 1935.
John Etzel was born on December 23, 1857, in Newark, New York. His parents, Leonhart and Anna Etzel, emigrated to the United States around 1855, settling in New York before moving to Iowa City in 1859.
John graduated from high school in Iowa City, with further studies at St. Louis University and State University of Iowa. He interned with an Iowa City pharmacist. In 1876, he moved to Clear Lake and partnered with J.K. Graham to acquire the Red Front Drug Store located on the north side of the 300 block of Main Street.
Etzel Drug Ad 1878
Etzel Drug Ad 1916
By 1878, John owned the business, operating it alongside his brother, George. There were other drug stores through the years, but the Etzel store was thelargest. Drug stores carried a wide range of goods from paint, wallpaper, books in addition pharmaceutical drugs and patent medicines, as seen in the Etzel advertisements through the years. They were similar to the variety stores of today.
In May 1883, John married Mary Carlyon, the daughter of Thomas Carlyon, a farm equipment business owner and civic leader. In 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed John as the Postmaster of Clear Lake, a position he held for five years.
As his business grew, expanded his business by constructing a two-story brick store at 313 Main Street in 1891, which stands today. The building had two retail stores on the ground level, professional offices for doctors on the upper floor, and offices on the lower level. The new brick building replaced wooden stores, significantly enhancing the quality of the Main Street business district.
He was instrumental in the development of Clear Lake infrastructure. In 1894, he organized the Clear Lake Power and Light Company which built a generating plant at the end of Main street at the lake. He remained president of the company for 20 years. In 1906, the company built a coal gas plant adjacent to the electric plant and extended gas piping throughout the city. He was also part of the group that developed the the telephone system that is Clear Lake Tel today.
John and his wife Anna were involved in community activities. becoming the coach of the Clear Lake baseball team in 1909 and leading them to successful seasons. In 1918, he purchased property in Sunnyvale, California, as a winter home, however, John Etzel passed away on June 30, 1919, in Clear Lake, Iowa and Anna and his son John Carlyon moved to California later that year.
George Etzel was born on February 12, 1865, in Iowa City, Iowa. After completing his education in Iowa City, George joined his brother John in Clear Lake around 1885. Between 1891 and 1894, the lure of quick riches from silver discoveries, he frequently traveled to Salt Lake City acting as a broker and investor in silver mining claims. He returned to Clear Lake after the decline of the silver mining boom.
In 1894, George married Jessie Tuttle the daughter of Phillip Tuttle local businessman in Clear Lake. In 1895, he was a partner in the establishment of Cerro Gordo State Bank, assuming the position of Vice President when it became a chartered bank in 1904, which he held until his retirement in 1931. Upon John’s death in 1919, George became the president of Clear Lake Light and Power Company until the company was sold to Peoples Gas and Electric in 1929.
George was involved in numerous corporations that owned and operated Bayside, Oaks Hotel, boating and White Pier. Included was the Clear Lake Amusement Corp, Clear Lake with C.C. Palmeter and Howard O’Leary in 1929, an enterprise connected to the Bayside development.
George and his wife Jessie were involved in community organizations,
George Etzel died on April 29, 1933, in St. Louis, Missouri, while returning from a winter vacation in Florida. Following his death, his wife Jessie sold their Clear Lake assets and moved to California.
John Etzel Obituary 1919
