Our Iowa Heritage: An Introduction. We might suggest you start here! Here’s how & why I got started collecting stamps, coins, and other Iowa memorabilia.
The 1880’s in Iowa City. A city is more than just buildings. Here you’ll find some personal letters that offer a glimpse of what it was like to live in Iowa City at the end of the 19th century.
1880’s – A Tour Of The SUI Campus. In the early 1880’s, a massive reference book on the history of Johnson County was published. In it, a SUI campus map from 1882 was included, along with two pages of informative descriptions. Join us as we re-visit this classic map, taking a walking tour – with pictures, gazing at the nine buildings that made up the SUI campus, plus eleven other downtown buildings that mattered to students & staff in 1882.
H.S. Fairall – Iowa City’s Newspaper Man Of The 1880’s. In 1881, Herbert S. Fairall took over the reins of The Iowa City Daily Republican newspaper, and over the next 13 years, became one of the city’s most influential leaders. Writing a best-seller on the subject of Iowa politics, Fairall was chosen to oversee the State of Iowa’s participation with the 1884/1885 World’s Fair held in New Orleans – The World’s Industrial & Cotton Centennial Exposition.
Cyrus Sanders – Setting Johnson County History Straight. Cyrus Sanders came to Johnson County in 1839, just as Iowa City was being formed. He not only wrote a daily journal about his earliest days here, but in the 1880’s, The Iowa City Daily Republican invited him to write a regular column on Johnson County history. In 1882, a bit of under-handed shannanigans literally stole away Cyrus Sanders’ material, publishing it under other people’s names! But today, we’re giving honor to where honor is due.
ICBT’s Sketch Of Johnson County – 1880. Iowa City is growing like a weed – attracting new business & industry thanks to the dedicated work of the Iowa City Board of Trade. In the fall of 1880, ICBT publishes a 28-page booklet that offers an expansive overview of Iowa City and Johnson County. Over the years, this publication has become a treasure trove for historians, and now you can peruse it – in full – right here.
Tipton’s Farm Boy – Judge Emlin McClain. In 1881, a young scholar from Tipton, Iowa with three degrees from SUI, became the first graduate of the SUI School of Law (1873) to be asked to return to Iowa City as a law professor. Over the next twenty years, Emlin McClain helped expand the SUI Law Department, before being selected as a Justice on the Iowa Supreme Court. Not bad for a farm boy from Cedar County, don’t you think?
Two Ohio Friends – One SUI Law Library Letter. Charles B. Elliott and Oscar L. Watkins: two young men – born in eastern Ohio in 1861 – who took two different life paths but remained true friends for nearly 70 years. Elliott became a law student at SUI – serving as the school’s librarian before becoming a successful lawyer in Minneapolis. Oscar went into education – eventually becoming a traveling textbook salesman. Follow Charles’ correspondence with Oscar through seven personal letters written throughout the 1880’s.
Charles B. Elliott: Romancing the Forest City Meteorite. Read this entertaining side-story about SUI Law School graduate – Judge Charles B. Elliott – and his meteorite adventure from Minnesota into Iowa.
The Iowa City Glass Works – 1880-1882. Without a doubt, starting a new business is a risky endeavor. One of the most fascinating studies in Iowa City business history is the rise and fall of Iowa City Glass Works. Opened in 1880, this glass-making factory quickly became the largest employer in the city, but after only eighteen short months, the doors were closed. Interestingly, ICGW glassware, today, is a rare commodity, and is treasured by hobbyists around the globe.
Iowa City – The Hub For Holsteins. You might be surprised to learn that during the 1880’s, Iowa City became the home to the nation’s top Holstein cattle breeder. Thomas Beale Wales III came to Iowa City from Boston in 1880 and was considered one of the top dairy-stock breeders in the United States and the inventor of the first recording system for tracking animal pedigree. From 1881 to 1891, Iowa City was considered “the center of the largest and best fine stock district in the world.”
1881-1981: The Golden Age Of Telephones In Iowa City. When Alexander Graham Bell introduced his new innovation at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, no one believed the telephone was much more than a plaything. But within five years of when the first telephone exchange office opened in Iowa City (1881), the whole city was buzzing with excitement. Over the next 100 years, the telephone transformed everything. Come read how it all started.
Iowa City Breweries – The Beers That Made Milwaukee Jealous. In the 1850’s, Iowa City was growing rapidly and provided a fruitful marketplace for creative entrepreneurs. Three German-American craftsmen took their passion for making great beer and by 1880 had built three large breweries employing hundreds of workers. City Brewery, Union Brewery, and Great Western Brewery – all located within two blocks of each other and connected via an expansive underground beer-storage system.
Iowa City Breweries – 1880’s: In Heaven There Is No Beer. In 1882, the Republican-led Iowa State Legislature passed Amendment 1 – a prohibition act that declared Iowa a dry state. Iowa’s Supreme Court shot the amendment down in 1883, but by the following year, the Legislature had countered. Everything came to a head in Iowa City during the summer of 1884 – resulting in what historians call the Iowa City Beer Riots – where the German-Democrat beer-makers literally came to blows with Republican-led tea-totalers.
Frank E. McInnerny & His Iowa First Capitol Whiskey. Just as the Iowa City Beer Riots were coming to an end (1884), a second-generation businessman – an Irishman named Frank E. McInnerny – opened a high-brow saloon on South Dubuque Street in Iowa City. By the end of the century, McInnerny had added a wholesale liquor business on the side, featuring two unique products: Iowa First Capitol Whiskey, and a beer called McInnerny’s Special Brew. Purchased by the bottle at his Great Wine & Liquor House on S. Clinton Street, or by the glass at his 150-foot-long bar on Dubuque Street, customers flocked to McInnerny’s until 1916, when seven states, including Iowa, voted in prohibition – four years before the whole nation went “dry” in 1920.
Iowa City’s Commercial Colleges – Taking Care Of Business. Did you know that for most of Iowa City’s first century, there were many other schools in town – besides SUI – that were competing for students? Between the 1840’s and 1890’s, there were numerous private business colleges formed in Iowa City – The Athens of Iowa – all designed to train up hundreds of young men and women in the highly-marketable skills of short-hand, typing, and business administration.
Iowa City Baseball Clubs – The Neversweats, Gold Sox & Ramblers. Did you know that Iowa City has had a variety of baseball clubs over the years? The Iowa City Neversweats, for example, were one of the top teams in Iowa during the mid-1880’s. And then, there was the Iowa City Gold Sox who played in Rundell Park in 1912, becoming the Racine Ramblers when bought out by Fred Racine – a local cigar shop owner – in 1913.
Deputy L.A. Clearman – ICPD Criminal Chaser. 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.
1886: A Father & Son Adventure Down The Mississippi. Between September 1886 and February 1887, Deputy Marshal Lewis A. Clearman and his oldest son, 15-year-old Fred Clearman, embark on a Rite of Passage journey, boating from Iowa City to St. Helens, Arkansas. Following in his steps as a Civil War soldier, Clearman takes his young son on a 138-day, 1,200+ mile journey, with Fred logging in his diary along the way. Come read about this father-son Mississippi River adventure!
The Wonderful World of SUI Colors – Black & Golden. In 1887, a handful of SUI students started asking some tough questions like ‘why do we not have any school colors?’ or ‘why do other colleges have a school song and we’re just singing about corn?’ Good questions, don’t you think? Join us for the colorful story about how SUI answered these burning questions.
– Page Two – The Iowa City Business Directory.
– Page Three – Iowa City’s Manufacturers.
– Pages Four/Five/Six – Doing Business In Iowa City.
– Page Seven – Iowa City’s Churches & Civic Organizations.
– Page Eight – Iowa City’s Educational Opportunities.
Meet Iowa City’s Mayors – 1887-1925. After fourteen years as an independent community with no ties to Territorial or State government, in 1853, the people of Iowa City voted to officially become an incorporated city. With that decision, came city government and our first city mayor and city council. Join us – over six pages – as we take a deeper look at the 60+ men and women who have led our city over the last 170+ years. Here’s Volume III (1887-1925).
The Baileys & The Montgomery Ward Wish Book. In the 1880’s, a 28-year old traveling salesman ran with the idea of a mail-order business that would eliminate intermediaries, cut costs, and make a wide variety of goods available to rural customers who could buy via the mail and pick up their orders at the nearest train station. At its zenith (1880s – 1940s), Montgomery Ward, like its cross-town Chicago rival, Sears, sold virtually everything the average American could think of or desire – and all the shopper had to do was lick a stamp. But on occasion (1889), a small delay might happen. Just ask M.H. Bailey of Iowa City.
1889 – Eva Emery Dye – Romancing The Iowa City Story. At age 8, Eva Emery Dye began writing poetry in her childhood home of Prophetstown, Illinois. By the turn-of-the-century, she’d written one of America’s first historically based novels – transforming the obscure Shoshone woman named Sacajawea into a national heroine. Active in the women’s suffrage movement, Dye spent one year in Iowa City, and during that time she wrote a 13-page article on Iowa City history which became the lead story in the June 1889 edition of the Magazine of American History. We’ve taken Dye’s very unique story – written as only a poetic her-storian could – and reprinted it here. Enjoy!