FALL ISSUE 2017
A Special Supplement to
living
Local volunteers for a local landmark Union County Visitor’s Center informs tourists, locals alike for more than 20 years
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By ALEX FELKER
CNA staff reporter afelker@crestonnews.com
The Union County Visitor’s Center, located just off the intersection of Highway 34 and Park Street, has become a Creston landmark. Restored by volunteers in 1994, the visitor’s center supplies information, scrapbooks, maps, gifts and a friendly face to those who choose to stop by. The building features period Phillips 66 gasoline pumps, and has been repainted and resigned in the company’s traditional green and orange to retain historic value. “People passing by, through the community, are seeking information,” said Creston Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ellen Gerharz. “And I just think it’s a great opportunity, because it’s a great group of people out there who are very friend-
ly and very knowledgeable about the community. “A lot of times, first impressions are what count the most,” said Gerh a r z . “ A n d t h e s e p e o p l e Gerharz leave a great impression of Creston.” Also located on nearby premises is the Union County Freedom Rock, which honors war veterans as part of artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen’s Freedom Rock tour. “I will say,” said Gerharz, “that the Freedom Rock has brought more people into the visitor’s center — because people are curious. If they don’t know the history of how it got started, or what it is, that’s why the city got real excited when (they) wanted to put the rock there.”
A piece of history Frank Phillips, the company’s founder, grew up in nearby Taylor County. At the age of 14, he began barbering in Creston. Not one for settling down immediately, however, Phillips packed his bags
The Union County Visitor’s Center, pictured above, was renovated in 1994.
and moved out west to pursue his career in Utah. In 1895, Phillips returned to Creston and opened up his very own barber shop on the corner of Pine and Montgomery streets. Not long thereafter, in 1903, Phillips decided upon yet another change. Phillips withdrew his savings
and headed to an Oklahoma oil field, where he would eventually begin his fortune. The Phillip’s filling station that now houses the Union County Visitor’s center was one of Iowa’s very first Phillip’s gasoline stations. In 1996, the renovat-
ed station opened for the public. Volunteer workers have been manning it ever since.
A friendly face About 12 volunteers operate the Union County Visitor’s Center. The center runs on two shifts per day, and volunteers typically take a few shifts each
CNA photo by ALEX FELKER
week. “They’re a great group of people,” said Gerharz. “They really are. All of them are retired except one. Some can’t volunteer at the hospital or what have you, but it is an opportunity for them to give back to the community they have VISITORS | 7c