Early day settlers drew on surrounding physical features to name this community. The tag, Modale, was coined from the Missouri River (Mo) nearby to the west and from a small valley or glen (dale) that at this point ran down to the river's brink. …
Approximately, this Mills County town was named after an official of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The town was established as a station on the C.B. & Q. in 1869. Its first and foremost citizen, history tells us, was L.W. Tubbs.