May 17, 1839 – In the official diary of Theodore S. Parvin – who was serving as secretary for Johnson County’s first District Court proceedings – we find the phrase “City of Iowa” being used to identify this new community of Iowa City.
The name “Iowa City” first appears in the January 21, 1839 proclamation (law) approved by the First Territorial Legislative Assembly meeting in Burlington. Interestingly, in his May 17, 1839 entry in the official diary of Theodore S. Parvin, we find that Parvin sketched out a map of the city in his journal, labeling it… “a map of the City of Iowa.” Parvin, who served as secretary to Governor Robert Lucas, had been sent out from Bloomington (Muscatine) with the Judge Joseph Williams, Territorial Judge to oversee the first District Court proceedings in Johnson County held on May 13th.
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