Lester, Iowa, was platted by William Thomas and his wife Mary on Nov. 8, 1889, on the southwest quarter of section 36, township 100, range 47. The town became a key shipping point for the surrounding farming community because of a railroad junction formed by the east-west Rock Island, built in 1887, and the north-south Sioux City and Northern Railroad, now known as the Great Northern, built in 1889. In 1889, J.A. Hastings erected a building on the south side of the tracks and opened a store selling hardware supplies, drugs, and sundries, and after he was appointed postmaster, part of his store served as a post office. For a short time, the town was known as Hastings. It received its present name from Lester B. Cleaveland, who perished with his brother James while watering the family cattle in Mud Creek a short distance northwest of the townsite during the blizzard of Jan. 12, 1888. Lester, Lyon County, Iowa, was incorporated Dec. 19, 1892.