Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Jun 04

Cedar Rapids off the island

It’s been the case since the flood in 2008, but today it was official. The Cedar Rapids city government is now headquartered in the old federal courthouse. Before now (before 2008, that is), it was located on Mays Island. For … Continue reading

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May 08

Complete chronology of Iowa counties

Iowa at statehood, 1846 (Flickr) It seems like most of Iowa’s county histories are ever only organized by individual county. This provides good detail for each separately, but hurts when you are trying to think of the “big picture” of … Continue reading

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May 06

That would have been awkward

Davis County Iowa, along the Missouri border, was named in 1843 for Garret Davis, a U.S. representative from Kentucky. But if the luck of the draw had gone another way, it would have created historical confusion for generations to come. … Continue reading

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May 01

Mount Sterling must re-disincorporate

Kyle Munson explains the snag in the process.

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Apr 28

Aredale’s mayor on Tonight Show

Hulu has the interview, but does not have the segments about him in one clip. There is either the entire show for Friday (he’s the second guest, after Mel Gibson) or search for “18-year-old mayor.”

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Apr 15

Maquoketa Caves reopen

KWWL and the Quad-City Times have stories. Until 2003, the state park was the destination of IA 428, the highest signed non-900 designation in the Iowa highway system.

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Apr 10

945* (Update: Still 946)

Clip from the first state highway map (1919) When the Iowa highway system was created in 1920, Mount Sterling was important enough that it (or the Missouri border just south) was the south end of IA 11. That only lasted … Continue reading

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Apr 09

A Civil War clarification

In commemoration of the 105th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862), in which many Iowa soldiers died, historian Timothy Walch corrects a statement that many people, including myself, had believed to be true. It’s reprinted here for … Continue reading

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