JAVA

A short history of Java

Java was founded in 1900, shortly after the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Line was extended from Bowdle to the Missouri River. The village was incorporated into a town by election in 1903 after survey of the townsite by Surveyor George Merriman of Bowdle on September 5 of that year.

Many of the first homesteaders were of German, Russian, Dutch, English, and Hungarian ancestry. The Java Herald, the first newspaper serving the town, was established in 1903 by Carl F. Clement, and was printed in both English and German.

In 1904, the first municipal building, a jail, was erected, in addition to gravel streets and an engine house equipped with a fire engine, hoses, and other related items. Additionally, the Dakota Central Telephone Company installed a telephone booth and switchboard at The Java House, Java's first hotel, founded in 1900 by H. A. Taylor. Later, wooden sidewalks, a water reservoir, a town hall, a town well, and a windmill (to grind grain) were added. These additions were paid by warrants issued by the town, and in 1906 a $2,000 bond issue was passed to remove the debt.

In 1905, the Kupp Brothers, J. C. and George, supervised the installation of a more permanent telephone system in the town for the Dakota Telephone Co.

By 1907, the town possessed fire protection, a cemetery association, water supply, municipal buildings, and improved telephone facilities. Another addition to the town was made when the Milwaukee Land Company had their property north of the railroad track surveyed and added.

From 1908-1909, the railroad company rerouted its track, passing north of the town by one-half mile. The citizens received a proposal from railroad officials to move the town north, however, this proposal was refused, and the town was served thereafter by a spur line constructed by the company.

By 1913, the town had a Catholic, a Presbyterian, a German Lutheran, and a German Congregational Church. In 1915, the wooden sidewalks along Main street were removed and replaced with cement sidewalks. Later that year, the town hall was remodeled, the jail was moved, a bell tower was constructed. In 1916, a municipal light plant was constructed. In 1921, a schoolhouse was constructed, and at this time Java was incorporated from a town into a city, and adopted the Mayor-Alderman form of government, the first mayor under this new system being Carl F. Clement. In 1939, a Public Works Administration project was begun, creating a waterworks system to include both commercial and private users.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Java, South Dakota, revision 1377393847 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.