Welcome!

M&M Railroad’s locomotive The Antione Le Claire.
Help us SAVE THE SLEZAK! Read more here!

Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Marty Boller – I’m a Hawkeye historian. My Boller family first arrived in America in 1816 and has been living here in Johnson County and eastern Iowa since 1853! I’ve enjoyed all the places I’ve lived over the years, but, as you might surmise by looking through this website, I have only one community that I truly love…

As a matter of fact, we love it so much, in 2020, my wife, Sandy, and I moved back here to live amongst the Hawkeyes, finding a nice townhouse that is literally only a few blocks from the home my parents built back in 1966 when I was a sophomore at City High. So now, enough about me. Allow me to tell you about our website…

  • I love Iowa City, Johnson County and its rich history,
  • I love collectibles that reflect our rich Iowa heritage, and…
  • I love hearing and telling people’s stories.

Here on our website you will find hundreds of Iowa-related stories. Stories of courageous men and women, some of whom you will be familiar with – many you won’t. Stories of those who have gone before us, many of which had no idea that they were leaving us a powerful legacy. Different people. Different times. Different circumstances. But two common themes – 1) Iowa, and 2) living a life of meaning and purpose. I invite you to join us in Our Iowa Heritage journey. Read a few posts – get a feel for what we do – sign up for our free daily blog.

Like Van Jones, it’s our vision here at Our Iowa Heritage to keep these Iowans and their stories alive.
With over 600 story pages & 600+ blog posts on our growing website, we suggest that you use one of our helpful indexes…

Click here for our general story page index…

Click here for our topical themes index…

Click here for our people/places/things alphabetical index…

Click here for our comprehensive chronological index…

Click here for our “what’s new?” index…
In a letter written to the Iowa historian – T.S. Parvin – in 1860, one of Iowa’s earliest settlers – Antoine Le Claire – confirmed that the Native American definition for IOWA is, indeed, “This is the place”. Read more here.
Here’s the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad’s prize locomotive – The Iowa City. Built by Danforth, Cooke and Company of Paterson, NJ, the engine cost $9,600 and was delivered to the M&M in April 1856. Read more here.
As a board member of Johnson County Historical Society (JCHS), I want to personally invite you to visit the JCHS Museum in Coralville or one of the four historical sites that are part of our organization. Click here to find out more.
Click here for more information!
As a new board member of Friends of Historic Preservation (FHP), I want to personally invite you to become an active member of our organization. Help us preserve our rich Iowa City heritage! Click here to find out more.

Our Iowa Heritage is all about recalling pleasant things and taking the time to dwell on them.
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