February 17, 1876 – The Daily Press gives front page exposure to the new Slezak National Hall.

In 1872, a recent immigrant to Iowa City from Bohemia – Johann Slezak – bought two lots on the corner of Bloomington & Linn Streets. By 1875, his son – Joseph Slezak had opened the first of four buildings that would end up being called The National Hall. A true commercial center, Slezak Hall included a hotel, a dance hall with a stage and balcony, a grocery store, a tavern & restaurant, and even a horse stable to park your wagon and/or buggy!

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February 16, 1856 – The M&M Railroad’s locomotive – The John A. Dix – arrives – with much fanfare – in Davenport, Iowa by crossing over Mississippi River ice. Records indicate that The Dix was the 7th M&M locomotive to cross over into Iowa – and the uniqueness of its crossing was the big story – since it all happened over a frozen Mississippi River.

With its headquarters in Davenport, the M&M Railroad had lofty goals of building three lines in Iowa – the first running east/west from Davenport to Council Bluffs via Iowa City, the second running south from Muscatine to the Missouri border via Oskaloosa, and the third running north from Muscatine toward Minnesota via Marion/Cedar Rapids. Over the first ten years, much of the work entails casting vision, partnering with eastern-based railroads, and raising funds.

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Making Elbow Room For A Pulitzer-Prize Winner. Over a thirty-year period, James Alan McPherson, the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, found plenty of “elbow room” for both himself and others while teaching at the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. In 2021, Iowa City renamed one of its city parks in his honor.

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