Aurelia, IA (Radio Iowa)– A Northwest Iowa community of nearly one thousand people will be in full celebration mode this weekend as the city hits the 150th anniversary of its founding.

Diane Weathers is part of Aurelia’s “All School” committee. She says the festivities begin Friday afternoon.

Another resident of Aurelia, Nancy Webb, says the big event for Saturday will be a parade.

For decades, the Aurelia Community School District was the only one in the state that had unique names for its boys and girls teams. Aurelia boys teams were known as the Bulldogs. Girls teams from Aurelia were known as the Atoms.

The Alta and Aurelia School Districts began sharing grades in the 1990s and voted to merge in 2017.

The City of Aurelia was named for the daughter of man who owned the Illinois Central Railroad. The community was a stop on the rail line, which ran to Chicago.