Had you come to Charitron in the Fall of 1849 you would have found nothing more than a piece of land selected by commissioners from the Iowa state legislature to be be the county seat of Lucas county. Three years earlier Mormon pioneers on ox-drawn wagons passed through the area on the way to Utah. One of them, when he found himself stranded by weather, the condition of his equipment and livestock became with his family the first long term residents in the area. The economy of the town entered a boom period when the U.S. Land Office moved here bringing a slew of new settlers and land speculators. The Chariton Community center with full size multipurpose courts for basketball, tennis and volleyball, meeting rooms and a walking track and Vredenburg – Chariton Family Aquatic center as well as the public parks do a good job of filling the recreational needs of the community.