Magnet

History

Magnet was platted in 1893 when the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway was extended to that point. Magnet was so named by its founder B. E. Smith, who hoped to attract settlers to the region "as the magnet attracts iron". Magnet's motto: "Magnet: The town too tough to die!" came from a variety of disasters that have struck the town over the course of its history. In February 1925 a fire burned one block of Main Street. The first tornado of two to strike Magnet happened on June 18, 1937. It tore through the town, destroying many businesses and homes. Thousands of people came to survey the damage on the Sunday following the storm. Over the summer of 1937 the town was cleaned up and through the help of neighboring towns, buildings and farms were restored. The second tornado struck Magnet on May 6, 1975 at 2:45 pm. The devastating tornado ripped through the town, destroying 2 homes and heavily damaging many more. A Carhart Lumber truck from Randolph came into town, bringing a load of plywood sheets. They were used for temporary repairs to protect damaged homes from the elements. The town was without lights and water, so the fire department from the neighboring town of Wausa brought in emergency generator units. Workers from the power company labored throughout the night to restore electrical service to the main part of town. It took over a week to replace broken poles and wires. Drinking water was brought in milk creamer cans. Help from neighboring towns came during the summer to assist with the clean-up. The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha Railroad went from Randolph to Magnet, then on to Bloomfield. Travelers who came to Magnet in 1894 had only a platform and an old box car to unload on when they arrived. During 1905–06, everything came by…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity