CENTREVILLE, the county seat [Appanoose County, Iowa], is located on Sec. 36, in township 69, N. of Range 18 W. It is an incorporated town of about 1,200 inhabitants. It has no railroad or river facilities for transportation at this time, though it is expected that the Nebraska City & Iowa State Line Railroad will soon be completed to this point. It is about thirty-five miles from Ottumwa, the nearest present shipping point. A large woolen factory is being built about one mile from the town by Messrs. Talbott & Gardner. Of churches, the Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, United Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians and Christians, each have an organization. The Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists each have a respectable church edifice. The town is organized into an independent school district, and is preparing to build a large graded school building, at an estimated cost of about eighteen thousand dollars. There is here a Lodge of I. O. O. F., No. 77, which meets every Saturday evening, a Masonic Lodge, which meets the Friday evening next preceding the full moon, and a Lodge of Good Templars, which meets every Monday evening. There is one weekly newspaper published by D. L. Stricker, called the Loyal Citizen, and one National Bank, having a capital stock of $50,000. There are ten dry good stores and six family groceries, and one stove and tin store. It may be considered one of the best business towns in Southern Iowa, with bright prospects in the future. (Hair's Iowa State Gazetteer..., 1865)