The Burlington, Cedar Rapids, and Minnesota Railroad constructed a line through Floyd County in the late 1860s, essentially following the course of the Shell Rock River. In 1871 the town of Greene was laid out by the railroad, with sections of the town on both sides of the river.

Near the intersection of North High and West Traer streets is the Church of the Brethren (1873), designed by William Buchman. The church building is a two-story structure with walls of local limestone. The proportions of the building and the slope of the gable roof are almost Greek Revival, but the narrow, elongated windows move the style slightly toward the medieval. The unusual feature of the church is that its sanctuary is on the second floor, with a fully exposed ground floor below. Its entrance is a tall, vertical composition of a door with a window above, and above this a lunette window (now closed in).