Ames Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1980 as Ames Heritage Association. Our founder is Ames historian, Farwell T. Brown, whose historical writings and research have inspired residents to appreciate and preserve the history of Ames. The immediate impetus for founding of the organization was the opportunity to save and restore Ames' first schoolhouse, the one-room Hoggatt School built during 1861-1862. The Articles of Incorporation, dated November 13, 1980, included the following incorporators: F. Terrill Adams, Elmer C. Aurand, Farwell Brown, Elizabeth Ferguson, Rodney Fox, Reinhard K. Friedrich, Ruth F. Hamilton, Herbert R. Hatch, Earl Holtz, Glenn E. Holmes, Jere Maddux, Gladys Meads, Marvin F. Miller, and David L. Moorhead. Bylaws were adopted January 1981 and revised in 1990, 1992, and 2001. At a special meeting on December 8, 2003, the Board of Directors and membership voted to change the organizational name to Ames Historical Society to better reflect our purpose. The new name became effective on January 1, 2004.