95 Iowa 197 | Iowa | 1895
I. The contention is with respect to a small strip of land which the plaintiff claims to- be a part of lot 15, Starr’s subdivision of lots 1 and 2, Starr & Foster’s addition to the city of Burlington, made in or prior to 1873, and which defendant claims to be a part of Marshall street. The plat shows Marshall street as a north and south street, extending through the block from Amelia street on the north to Spray street on the south, with lots on each side fronting east
II. Appellant’s contentions are “that there was no adverse possession, because there was no holding of title against the city under any claim of right except a mistake as to the true boundary line of the lots.” Grube v. Wells, 34 Iowa, 148; State v. Welpton, 34 Iowa, 144; Bolton v. McShane, 79 Iowa, 27 [44 N. W. Rep. 211]; Fisher v. Muecke, 82 Iowa, 548 [48 N. W. Rep. 936], are cited in support of this contention. Appellant’s other contention is that the statute of limitations does not run against the city “to defeat the exercise of. its governmental authority, it being a governmental authority to establish and maintain a street.” City of Waterloo v. Union Mill Co., 72 Iowa, 437 [39 N. W. Rep. 197], and cases therein referred to, are cited in support of this claim. In the view we take of the case, these positions may be conceded, but the question remains whether, under the facts, the appellant city should not be held to have declined the dedication of the strip of land in-question, and to have waived and abandoned its right to the same as a part of said street. Let it be conceded that