Editing Ayrshire, Iowa (section)

==History==
In the 1880s the [[Des Moines and Fort Dodge Railroad]] (later part of [[Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway]]), having reached [[Fort Dodge, Iowa|Fort Dodge]], began building to the northwest. In October 1882 the rails reached the location of Ayrshire, and a depot was built the following month. The railroad had acquired 80 acres for a townsite, and by 1883 several businesses had been established.<ref>McCarty, Dwight D. [https://archive.org/details/historyofpaloalt00mccarich History of Palo Alto County Iowa], p. 154. The Torch Press (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), 1910.</ref>

Ayrshire was incorporated on September 20, 1895.

At one time it had two banks, two grocery stores, blacksmith shop, livery stable, creamery, hotel, at least two barber shops; Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist and Baptist churches; five gas stations, grain elevator, two cafes, a [[locker plant]], a pharmacy, a lumber yard, two beer halls and several other businesses. It had both a Catholic and a public high school. The Catholic high school closed in 1947. The lower grades closed in 1968. The public school closed in the spring of 1982. The public school mascot was the Ayrshire Beavers.

In 1972, the town drew national attention for having the youngest mayor in America. Jody Smith was nineteen when he was elected mayor.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090413144846/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943365,00.html "I was a teenage mayor,"] ''Time.'' Monday, April 24, 1972.</ref>

The rail line, by then part of the [[Chicago and North Western Railway]], was abandoned in the 1980s, and torn up.<ref>[http://www.iowadot.gov/iowarail/railroads/maps/Chronology.pdf Chronology of Iowa's Railroad Abandonments], Iowa Department of Transportation</ref>

The town celebrated its Quasquicentennial in 2007.<ref name="AyrQua">{{cite web|url=http://www.ayrshireia.com/ayrshire125/|title=Ayrshire Quasquicentennial|publisher=Nortwhwest Web Solutions|accessdate=January 6, 2011|archive-date=December 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203070715/http://www.ayrshireia.com/ayrshire125/|url-status=dead}}</ref>