History

Zearing was founded in 1881.  The town was originally to be named Ashurt after a man that was working on the railroad the was soon to come through and another man who's land would have the railroad running across it.

 

The name was disputed and later Zearing was decided upon.  Zearing is named after Judge William Mitchell Zearing of Chicago, IL.  Judge Zearing owned land in the town, but never set foot here.  His contribution came in the form of a bell given to the first church in Zearing.

 

The oldest remaining house inside city limits is said to be the old "Doc" Hall residence, first house on the West side of the Center St, just North of Main.

 

A full history can be found at http://iastory.org/ZearingHist/index.htm.  It was compiled in 1956 by Donald Grimm, and can be found in its entirety here.