Sarah Watson Maya Marchel Hoff Quad-City Times

Bonnie Mitchell and Cathy Bailey work side-by-side to archive and research Jackson County’s history in the building that once held a global small engine company.

Mitchell, as the Jackson County Historical Society’s curator and director, is especially quick to rattle off the county's history.

The county is bordered by bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River to the east and cave networks, soaring rocks and hiking trails to the west.

Jackson County was where Iowa’s first state governor, Ansel Briggs, lived before his election. Limestone attracted settlers to the area and makes up the foundation of the county's oldest buildings. Clinton Engines, whose former building the historical society occupies, at one time was Iowa's 10th largest employe

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