November 11, 1922 – 1,500 Iowa and Minnesota football fans need the Interurban to rescue them from the muddy, impassible roads of Johnson County.

It’s Homecoming 1922 in Iowa City and thousands pack Iowa Field to see the eventual Big Ten Champion Hawkeyes beat up on the Minnesota Gophers 28-14. A perfect day unless you are a fan who drove your automobile to the game. An all-day rain made the dirt roads of Johnson County impassible, stranding 1,500 in their cars – many as they were on there way back to Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and Minneapolis. But the CRANDIC electric railway – The Interurban – was there to save the day. Read the whole story, as told by Iowa City historian Irving Weber, by clicking on the link below.

Over a 120-year period (1850-1970) there were five different railway systems that attempted to serve the good people of Iowa City with passenger rail service. Today – there is none. Come reminisce with us as we review the amazing story behind the fourth: Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Interurban Railway.

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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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