MovieChat Forums > The Music Man (1962) Discussion > River City is Mason City Iowa

River City is Mason City Iowa

posted 14 years ago by scribe1270
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This movie has a special place for me in that it was set in Mason City Iowa and one of my ancestors (Georg Brentner) helped to found it. He and his partner (A man named Long) had bought up parcels of land and sold them to people who were Masons (hence the name). The park where some of the scenes are set in fact was built on land my ancestor leant to the city with the stipulation it remain a park. Alas from what I've heard the city has violated that by building a bus station on the site.

[–] MitchieBitchies 12 years ago

Actually, it's not really a bus station so much as a gazebo of sorts for people waiting to catch a bus. It's actually quite lovely. It really didn't take up much room and there was no other logical place in town for it.

The park is still very much there, with beautiful paths and war memorials and flowers. It's used quite often for family events and small concerts.

It's probably the nicest thing about this town, which has changed quite a bit since Meredith's time.