Winneshiek County's two "newest" communities

Hay bales in "downtown Thoten"

Winneshiek County's population might be declining, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but according to Mapquest there are two new communities in the county.

'Nasset' and 'Thoten' are shown even on the latest Winneshiek County map, with 'Nasset' located on Old Stage Road and 133rd Avenue and 'Thoten' located on Glenville Road and 258th Street.

However, none of the offices at the Winneshiek County Courthouse had heard of the communities.  And a visit to the locations of the two communities shows nothing but corn fields and trees.

It turns out that the Winneshiek County Historical Society is the organization that knows about the two communities--because they both existed 100 years ago.

'Thoten' (pronounced TOE-tenn) consisted of nothing more than one post office building and one rural schoolhouse.  'Nasset' (also occasionally spelled 'Nassett') was a more populous community.  In fact, there were even entries about 'Nasset News' around the turn of the 20th century in the Decorah newspaper.  But Nasset, which even included a car dealership, eventually faded away.

So why would Mapquest and other map makers suddenly start listing the two communities?  The answer to that question is unknown, but one county official offered an intriguing possibility--that map makers sometimes add a community to their map to differentiate their map from other maps--thus protecting their copyright.

Thoten and Nasset might be gone, but apparently they're not forgotten--at least by map makers.

Two farm houses are near Thoten