Daniel McCarthy, born in Ontario, Canada, moved to Story City in 1856 and installed the first steam plant in the county. He married and later moved to Ames. When the city was selected as the location for a college, he helped to survey the location for its first building, the Farm House.

Sarah Emery moved to Story County around 1856 and in 1862, she was hired as the first schoolteacher for Ames, teaching students at the one-room Hoggatt School.

Wes Buchele came to Ames in 1963 to be an agricultural engineering professor at Iowa State University. Having grown up on his family farm, Buchele was passionate and knowledgeable about everything in agriculture, particularly how to stay safe.