Cache Is Not At The Posted Coordinates
Mr. Toot is the mascot not only of the North Iowa Band Festival, but also for Mason City as a whole. His image has appeared on everything from T-Shirts to business cards to city light poles. Now his image also appears on the geocaching map just south of Mason City Iowa. Each of these puzzles will include a fact or story in theme with the art series. Some may also include a question or two for you to answer correctly to find the coordinates.
Mason City
Pleazol Pool Hall
The oldest business in Mason City is owned by Tammy Davies. Ransom's great-great-grandfather, Cort Ransom, was a Civil War veteran who spent some time as a guard to President Lincoln. He opened his cigar store and billiards parlor a year after the war ended.
Over the next several decades, ownership shifted from one generation of Ransoms to the next and the store switched names and locations several times. It has been known as Cort Ransom's Cigar Store, the Brunswich, the Alexandria, the Pleazol and Ransom's Pleazol.
The location has changed several times as well. Ransom's has been in its current spot at 120 N Federal Ave since 1950. It was the Pleazol that Meredith Willson had in mind when he warned in "The Music Man" that "there's trouble in River City, trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool"
"When it opened there were only 1,000 people in Mason City. My great-great-grandfather was one of the first four or five business owners in town. None of those other businesses are still here," Davies said.
Ownership started with Cort Ransom in 1866 then was passed on to Cort's son, Tod; then to Tod's son, Harley; then to Bob and now to Bob's daughter Tammy.
The bar is still a pool hall, with three vitage walnut 1950 Brunswick centennial pool tables and matching cue racks that still attract customers every day.
Pleazol Cigar Store in Music Man Square
N 43 02.702 W 93 13.277