May 1989 – Iowa City Celebrates 150 Years!

*(P-0258)* *(P-0261)* *Two Iowa City Sesquicentennial Postcards* *postmarked on May 4, 1989.*

On May 4-5-6, 1989, Iowa City celebrated its 150th birthday. As we’ve reported in earlier blog posts, Iowa City began on May 4, 1839 when Chauncey Swan drove a stake into the ground – marking the location of Iowa’s new capitol building. Read more here.

Here’s the Schedule of Events for the big Sesquicentennial Celebration.

*Click here to view the video from the Saturday, May 6th, 1989 parade…*

Click here to read more about Herb Gartzke – keeper of the City Hall bell that helped celebrate Iowa City’s 150th anniversary in 1989.

In celebration of this special sesquicentennial event, The Iowa City Press Citizen published a special Sesquicentennial edition on Thursday, May 4th, 1989, which included a multiple-page overview of Iowa City’s rich heritage. Below are a handful of the many highlights within that special edition, which was divided into three 50-year sections (1839-1889), (1889-1939), and (1939-1989)…

The 1839-1889 section included articles on the following people. Click on links to read more:
**Chauncey Swan**
**John Gilbert**
Samuel Trowbridge
Bohumil Shimek
**Robert Lucas**
Charles Schaeffer
**Samuel Kirkwood**
**Walter Terrell**
**Philip Clark**
**John Shrader**
**John P. Irish**
**Elizabeth Irish**
**Hugh Downey**, (2)

The 1889-1939 section included articles on the following people/events. Click on links to read more:
Ewen MacEwen
Iver Opstad
Emma Havat
**Benjamin Shambaugh**
Carl Seashore
George MacLean
Howard Jones
Walter Jessup
**Samuel W. Mercer & family**
**The 1939 Centennial Celebration**

Click here to read more about Dr. Van Allen

Click here to read more about Helen Lemme

The 1939-1989 section included articles on the following people. Click on links to read more:
**Fred Kent**
Ned Ashton
Wilfreda Hieronymous
**James Van Allen**
**Helen Lemme**
Nancy Seiberling
E.F. Lindquist
Virgil Hancher
Minnette Doderer
Roy Carver
Francois Abboud
**Paul Engle**
Bump Elliott

Of course, scattered throughout this 27-page edition were countless ads from local businesses and organizations, such as these…

Mercy Hospital and John’s Grocery both have long histories in Iowa City.

In 1989, two new books on Iowa City were released, Gerald Mansheim’s Iowa City-An Illustrated History, and Irving Weber’s Iowa City-Volume 5.

All in all, the May 1989 Sesquicentennial Celebration in Iowa City was a pretty big deal.

*(P-0394) Here’s a picture postcard featuring downtown Iowa City – circa 1989.*

Another series of events was held in Iowa City for the 175th Anniversary in 2014. Though not as massive as the Centennial (1939) or Sesquicentennial (1989) Celebrations, a number of events were planned. You can read more about that 2014 celebration by linking to these two Iowa City Press Citizen articles…

Map: Iowa City looking dandy at 175 years of age, Mitchell Schmidt, Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 9, 2014

175 years – Iowa City to mark 175 years with 3-day celebration, Andy Davis, Iowa City Press Citizen, December 3, 2014