The Chicago & Alton Railroad was built through the area in 1853. Cayuga was platted by Thomas F. Norton two years later, for Corydon Weed.[3] Population peaked as a village with 160 people in 1898. What would become Route 66 was built along Cayuga in the 1910s. At one point there was a school and two churches, a Presbyterian and a Lutheran.[4] The only documented owner of the grain elevator was the defunct Middle Division Elevator Co.[4] By 1955 the population had dropped to only 60 people.[5]
Climate
The average high and low temperatures are 85 °F (29 °C) and 63 °F (17 °C), respectively, during the summer and 30 °F (−1 °C) and 17 °F (−8 °C), respectively, during the winter.[3]