Welcome!

Listen to our audio welcome!

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 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…

Here’s one of the oldest photographs of Old Capitol – circa 1854.

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…

What Our Iowa Heritage is all about!
  • I love Iowa City and her 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 dozens and dozens 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 blog.

Like Van Jones, it’s our vision here at Our Iowa Heritage to keep these Iowans and their stories alive.
Our Picture Of The Week – Read more here.
Looking for something specific?

With over 500 story pages & 350+ blog posts on our growing website, we suggest using 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…

Check out these posts…
Iowa City’s Top 50 Influencers: Part One – 1832-1845.
Iowa City’s Top 50 Influencers: Part Two – 1846-1939.
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”.
In 1944, Iowa’s own Music Man – Meredith Willson – wrote his first pop song about his home state of Iowa – dedicating it to the troops serving overseas during WWII. Bing Crosby made this beautiful tune and its heart-warming lyrics into a big seller that same year. Read more here.
Thank you for journeying with us! May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You!
Click here to email us!
Our Iowa Heritage is all about recalling pleasant things and taking the time to dwell on them.
Click here to visit our Facebook page!