Community museum started to house farmer’s collection

Clarence Kline spent decades collecting everything related to agriculture. And when he died, he left it to the community of Prescott and asked that it be preserved in a museum.

So, that’s just what this southwest Iowa community did.

The Kline Museum opened in 1988. It started with one farmer’s collection and has grown over the past 35 years through other donations.

“His will asked that the city take what it wanted and sell the rest,” says Randy Cooper, who farms and serves as president of the museum’s board of directors. “Even with everything the city kept, they still had enough for a three-day auction.”