May 16, 1977.

Posted on May 16, 2026 by Our Iowa Heritage

***Old Capitol’s Stairway To Heaven.*** Read more at our website.

May 16, 1977 – A group of second-grade students from Robert Lucas school become Old Capitol guides for the day in the newly-restored iconic statehouse.

While Iowa’s new capitol building opened for business in 1842, it took another seven years before the second floor was fully accessible. In 1849, a beautiful reverse-spiral staircase was finally completed and with it the most iconic building in Iowa gained not just a flight of stairs but an architectural classic that still amazes visitors today.

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May 15, 1791.

Posted on May 15, 2026 by Our Iowa Heritage

**Isaac Galland & His Iowa Emigrant Travel Guide**. Read more at our website.

May 15, 1791 – Iowa Pioneer & Author – Dr. Isaac Galland – is born in Somerset, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Isaac Galland was born in Somerset, Pennsylvania to Matthew Galland and Hannah Fenno during their move from Norfolk, Virginia to the Western frontier.

One of the forgotten classics in Iowa history – published in 1840 – Isaac Galland’s Iowa Emigrant was a little 28-page book that’s often discarded because its author was involved in some rather shady business practices when it came to Iowa & Illinois land investments. Yet it was this early pioneer who settled in Iowa while it was still uncharted territory in 1829, started Iowa’s first school in Montrose (Lee County) in 1830, and published Iowa’s second newspaper – The Western Adventurer and Herald of the Upper Mississippi – in 1837.

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May 14, 1878.

Posted on May 14, 2026 by Our Iowa Heritage

***Iowa City’s Deputy Marshal L.A. Clearman***. Read more at our website.

May 14, 1878 – Mayor Jacob Ricord appoints Lewis A. Clearman as Special Deputy Marshall – charged with enforcing Iowa City’s newly-passed Stock Ordinance which prohibits livestock running “at large” within the city.

Over a thirty-two year period (1872-1904) Deputy Marshal Lewis A. Clearman served Iowa City as a faithful police officer. He began in the 1870’s by simply keeping livestock off city streets, but by the late-1890’s, Clearman had made a name for himself serving as Iowa City’s super sleuth who could solve some of the most difficult crimes committed across the state.

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