John Boepple settled in Muscatine, Iowa, where he produced pearl buttons made from freshwater mussel shells. His innovations brought economic prosperity to the town—and disaster to the local mussel ...

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) - The story of the pearl button industry in Muscatine is much like a button itself, its circular and when properly polished, will shine. “If you polish this history like a pearl, ...

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, clammers would drag 12-foot crowfoot bars along the bottom of the St. Croix River. Mussels, sensitive to disturbance, would clamp tightly onto the hooks. Their ...

John Bepple, a button maker who emigrated from Germany to the United States in the late 1880s, laid the foundation for a major industry with 'pearl buttons' made from the nacre of seashells. However, ...

From coal towns that vanished to a Mississippi River button boom, here are a few surprising Iowa industries that helped shape ...