[3] Developed from south to north, including four very large mansions built before World War I, the area became popular with upper-middle-class residents.

[4] The land the camp was built on belonged to Thomas Russel Allen of St. Louis, Missouri and consisted of over 300 acres (120 ha).

The men were involved in the Dakota War of 1862 in Minnesota and were held in the camp as prisoners because President Abraham Lincoln commuted their death sentences.

It had the support of Iowa's Civil War veterans groups, the GAR, and local citizens, but nothing came of it.

A promoter made a personal trip to Belgium to visit with the family and he was able to acquire the land on behalf of the Camp McClellan Improvement Company.

[8] There was also an officer who was responsible for the beatification of the subdivision, making repairs, caring for the plant life and weeding, and snow and ice removal.

[2] Elements of past styles were utilized here, but they were employed in a less literal fashion by using a few details to suggest rather than recreate the earlier forms.