Lucas Map
Lucas is a city in Lucas County, Iowa, United States. The population was 243 at the 2000 census.
The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company established a station at Lucas in 1866, named after Lucas County and Robert Lucas. A plat for the town was filed on May 9, 1868 and the town was incorporated on March 18, 1887. The town grew slowly until coal was discovered in the area.
In 1876, the Whitebreast Coal and Mining Company began working a 250-foot (76 m) shaft one mile (1.6 km) east of Lucas. This proved successful, and in 1878, they platted a company town there, which they named Cleveland 41°1?57.21?N 93°26?38.71?W / 41.0325583°N 93.4440861°W / 41.0325583; -93.4440861. By 1880, Cleveland had a population of 380, and the first mine was producing 650 to 700 tons of coal per day by the labor of 280 miners and 33 mule drivers. A second mine was opened 3/4 mile from the first, and the two mines sold coal to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and several other railroads to the south and west. Very little remained of Cleveland by the 1930s.
Nearby cities include Humeston, Lacona, Osceola, New Virginia, Milo.