May 5, 1841.

Iowa City – Coast to Coast. Read more at our website.

May 5, 1841 – Iowa City retailer – William P. Coast – is born in Youngstown, Ohio.

In the spring of 1854, the Coast family rolled into Iowa City from Youngstown, Ohio, and soon Pappa Coast was buying and selling land with the best of them. His son, William P., was one of SUI’s first students, and by 1890 had financed a new building, opening a new clothing store on Clinton Street – right across from Old Capitol. When William P’s two sons joined in around the turn of the century, Coast & Sons Clothiers was born and over the next 35 years, the Coast family offered Iowa Citians one of the finest men’s clothing stores in the country.

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Happy 187th Birthday, Iowa City!

On May 4, 1839 – our fine city had its humble beginnings!

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.

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May 4, 1959.

The very first Grammy Awards – 1959. Read more at our website.

May 4, 1959 – Iowa’s Music Man – Meredith Willson – is presented with a Grammy Award – the very first ever awarded – for his Broadway soundtrack album – The Music Man.

Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) distinguished himself as a writer of symphonic works and popular songs. His most famous work, The Music Man, premiered on Broadway in 1957, and was adapted twice for film (1962 and 2003). The idea for the show began in 1949, when he was reminiscing with friends about his childhood years in Mason City, Iowa. Willson referred to the show as “an Iowan’s attempt to pay tribute to his home state.”

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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.

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