Welcome To Iowa City – Athens Of Iowa.

Cities across America have cognomens (nicknames). New York City, of course, is The Big Apple. Chicago is The Windy City, New Orleans – The Big Easy, and Detroit – The Motor City.

Here in Iowa, many of our major cities have cognomens as well – nicknames that were picked long ago, with some still used today, while others have faded away.

**Dubuque – The Key City** (Iowa’s oldest city and the starting point for The National Road).
**Des Moines – The Capitol City** (since 1857 when the capitol was stolen away from Iowa City).
**Muscatine – The Button City** (button factories using clam shells dredged from the Mississippi River).
**Cedar Rapids – The Parlor City** (because of the many elegant homes of the late 19th century).
**Keokuk – The Gate City** (the entry point into Iowa from the south on the Mississippi River).

Speaking of nicknames – read here to find out how Iowa got its nickname – The Hawkeye State.

Surprisingly, many don’t realize that for 65+ years (1860’s into the 1920’s), Iowa City was known to most people – in and out of the state – as the Athens of Iowa.

The famed Iowa City historian – Irving Weber – wrote an article on this subject back in 1990, and in it, he credited the highly-popular reporter and daily columnist for The Iowa City Daily Press – Jacob E. (J.E.R.) Reizenstein – for first using the cognomen – Athens of Iowa – at the turn-of-the-century. But, our research finds that the nickname goes back at least another forty years earlier than where Weber pegged it. So, here, for the record is the Athens of Iowa story…

Ancient Athens was a city of education and higher learning – a progressive community exploring progressive ideas. In truth, Athens has given modern civilization many gifts over the years. There’s the Olympics, for example, and the architecture – Classic Greek. But a deeper look tells us that the early Greeks pretty much invented our alphabet, modern mathematics, sculpture, philosophy, science, and even medicine! Robert Wall – a New Testament biblical scholar – says of Athens, the center of Greek society – “a great university town and a symbol of the ‘high culture’ where important ideas have value and are carefully considered by the intellectually curious.”

Sound familiar?

So, when Iowa City was first created in 1839 (yes, our city was pre-planned from Day One), the vision was that it would be the focused center of this new Territory – soon to be State (1846). And, as the hub for public gatherings, Iowa City would be the place where legislators, business people, and other influencers would join together to not only govern, but to plan the exciting future of this promised land called Iowa.

Thus, from its very first day serving as Iowa’s capital (1841) until October of 1857, Iowa City was known as Iowa’s Capitol City. But, on that fateful day – October 19, 1857 – when the last oxen-drawn wagon pulled away from Old Capitol, heading westward to Des Moines, our community was now left without a public identity. So, with the state capital now gone, and the Financial Panic of 1857 severely impacting the economy, Iowa Citians were faced with a huge crisis – a moment of truth.

So – speaking of truth – in 1857, Iowa City’s answer to its burning question – Who Are We? – lay in the form of a diamond in the rough – The State University of Iowa. You see, at the time, SUI was nothing more than an advanced high school, with some critics actually calling it – Johnson County High. But with the capital moving to Des Moines, state legislators awarded us the gift that kept on giving. First, it was decided that all state funding for higher education would now be funneled directly into Iowa City and not spread over multiple state-wide campuses. And two, the former Statehouse (Old Capitol) on Capitol Square would be “gifted” to Iowa City as a consolation prize for taking the capital away from us. In response, one slightly-frustrated, yet highly-enlightened Iowa City newspaper reporter wrote in an editorial…

Let Des Moines have the politicians. We’ll take the professors!

Read here about how Iowa City had already established itself as a center for advanced education long before 1857.

It appears, from what we found when searching Iowa City newspapers, the people of Iowa City took this new call to progressive education seriously, because by 1861 – just as the Civil War was beginning – the nickname – Athens of Iowa – started to be used to identify our community.

Below are three examples from the 1860’s where the term Athens of Iowa is used in describing our fair community of Iowa City. Below left – from April 3, 1861, the editors of The Iowa Democratic State Press – John W. Van Hosen and John G. Given – encourage Iowa Citians to attend an evening lecture held at Metropolitan Hall. Below middle – from May 2, 1863, Jonathan F. Dillou writes an editorial encouraging Iowa Citians to attend the lecture of W.H. Milburn – “The Blind Preacher”. Below right – April 18, 1866, a concerned citizen – W. Emonds – writes an editorial urging residents to adequately prepare for an expected return of cholera, mentioning the great need to protect our “flourishing schools”.

In 1898. the Honorable Edwin F. Brockway called Iowa City “the city of education and culture that proudly claims the title – Athens of Iowa.”

Interestingly, we’ve discovered nearly 1,000 newspaper articles – spanning over a 65+ year period (1866-1923) – where Iowa City is tagged as the Athens of Iowa. Below are just a few examples…

Above top left – from 1880, Above bottom left – from 1890, Above right – from 1892.

Above – Mt. Pleasant was the home of Iowa Wesleyan College (1842) and Mt. Vernon was the host to Cornell College (1853), so apparently, in 1874, those two Iowa cities decided they wanted to be called Athens of Iowa, but this little editorial in The Iowa State Press shut that idea down quickly!

Above left – from 1904, Above right – from 1912.

Above left – from July 21, 1915; Above right – from 1920.

Above left – from 1920, Above right – from 1923.

Whether it be publishing books – Athens Press – theater, concerts, lectures, and/or the expansive amount of educational opportunities – Iowa City was, indeed, appropriately entitled – Athens of Iowa.

As we see it, Iowa City continues in that fine tradition even today! Hmm – maybe, in these highly politicized times, it might be a good thing to restore our old cognomen!

On July 1, 1976, The Iowa City Press-Citizen published a special 76-page Bicentennial edition. In that edition there were articles and pictures related to stories found on this page. You can read more here.