Welcome To Iowa City – June 1887.

In 1887 – Iowa City was nearing its 50th birthday (1839-1889). There were two newspapers in town – The Daily Press and The Iowa City Republican. On Tuesday, June 21, 1887, The Republican issued an eight-page salute to Iowa City – a classic overview of our fair city as it was so very long ago. Over a series of six posts, we’d like to share with you much of the contents of that amazing 8-page edition. So here – on this page – we’ll start with the decorative front page…

*In **September of 1880**, The Republican published a very similar story that offers an expansive overview of Iowa City and Johnson County. Read it in full here.*

As you can see from the picture above, there were eleven beautiful sketches featured on the front page of The Republican – offering us a magnificent view of some of Iowa City’s most impressive buildings in 1887. Here is a closer look…

The **Great Crocker Brigade Reunion** was held in **Iowa City** on **September 23-24, 1885**. This celebration honored Iowa’s famous Civil War heroes – Brigadier General Marcellus Crocker and his unit composed entirely of Iowa troops – the 11th, 13th, 15th, and 16th Regiments. Known as one of the most effective brigades that moved quickly throughout the western front of the Civil War (1862-1865), this Iowa unit earned the nickname – “Crocker’s Greyhounds.”

Here are three of the larger banks of Iowa City, the Coldren Opera House, the St. James Hotel, and, of course, Whetstone’s Drug Store on the corner of Clinton & Washington Street.

Here are several of the larger retailers in downtown Iowa City – with some being the centerpiece of an entire city block!

Now, for those of you who want all the details – here’s the text from the articles found on the front page. Sadly, as you can see, there was some damage to the original page, but we’ve salvaged as much of it as we can…