Our Picture Of The Week.

Happy 187th Birthday – Iowa City! On May 4, 1839, a small ceremony was held where Old Capitol stands today, and a surveyor’s wooden slab was driven into the ground.

Our Picture Of The Week is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

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This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

May 3, 1932.

Rex the ROTC Dog – SUI’s Mascot – 1920’s -1935. Read more at our website.

May 3, 1932 – The Daily Iowan interviews new Iowa football coach – Ossie Solem – and the SUI mascot – Rex the ROTC Dog.

In 1932, Ossie Solem came to Iowa City as football coach to take over a hapless Hawkeye football program that had recently been suspended from the Big Ten conference. The University was also suffering from the effects of the Great Depression and could not even afford to pay Solem his full first-year salary. Ossie seemed to make light of the situation as he and Rex the ROTC Dog were “interviewed” for an article in The Daily Iowan.

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This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

May 2, 1855.

The Mississippi & Missouri Railroad Comes To Iowa. Read more at our website.

May 2, 1855 – Henry Farnam and Thomas Durant – both actively involved with the C&RI Railroad and the Rock Island bridge project – sign a contract to become the two movers-n-shakers of the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad in Iowa.

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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This Date In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

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