ICBT’s Sketch Of Johnson County – 1880.

On Friday, September 24, 1880, The Iowa City Republican published a special overview of our fair city. As you can see from the front page (above), the article was entitled A Garden Spot. The edition was well received by Iowa Citians, and from what we can tell, many asked for additional copies since this was, most likely, the first time in Iowa City newspaper history when one of the city papers ran such an extensive overview of the community.

The Republican newspaper article had such a good response, The Iowa City Board of Trade (ICBT) decided to take the text in its entirety and reproduce it in an easier-to-read format. The result is what you see below – a 28-page booklet, published on November 1, 1880 – adding a title and subtitle that would appeal to a broader audience, while also being inclusive of the entire population of Johnson County – not just Iowa Citians.

Over the years, this little booklet from 1880 has become a valuable resource to Johnson County and Iowa City historians. So much so, in fact, we included an online link to it several years ago in Our Iowa Heritage list of ‘must-have’ historical resources.

But now, we’ve taken it one step further. Here, on this page, we offer the entire contents of the 28-page booklet along with an assortment of supporting graphics taken from other sources. Keep in mind, the original September 1880 newspaper article and the corresponding ICBT booklet had no graphics, but in 1887, The Republican did another overview that was very similar to this one. Many graphics used on this page come from that edition. Enjoy the tour!

So, before we get to the ICBT booklet itself, let’s address the basic question of…

The Iowa City Board Of Trade (ICBT) was first formed in 1878 with Dr. Elmer F. Clapp serving as its President. Functioning much like a Chamber of Commerce, the ICBT took it upon itself to recruit new businesses & industry into Iowa City.

On December 13, 1881, Dr. Clapp served as the welcoming speaker for the annual conference of the Iowa Stock Breeder’s Association – meeting in Iowa City for the first time in its eight-year history. In his speech, Clapp gave his audience an informative overview of The Iowa City Board of Trade and why it was formed (see above). Read more about Dr. E.F. Clapp and his role in the formation of the SUI School of Medicine…

In 1880, Ezekel Clark took over as President of the ICBT, and as a highly-visible businessman throughout Johnson County, his leadership took the organization to new levels of productivity during the 1880’s. Read more about Ezekiel Clark and his role in the formation of Coralville…

Here we are with page one of The Iowa City Board of Trade‘s 28-page booklet – an opening article giving readers an overview of what they’ll find in this ICBT Sketch Of Johnson County. Notice how the booklet contents line up with the Iowa City Republican‘s article header (below right)…

Now, for a brief overview of Johnson County – its Location & Description…

Followed by a bit of our Johnson County History…

Since the 1860’s, Iowa City was known as the Athens of Iowa – a community where a quality education truly counts. So now, ICBT gives us an overview of the many educational opportunities found in our fair city…

Of course, we start off our educational tour with The State University of Iowa (SUI)…

Want to talk a walking tour of the SUI campus & Iowa City in 1882? Come see the nine buildings of SUI.

Now, a salute to the Iowa City Public Schools…

Next, a look at three private schools offering commercial training in a variety of subjects. Read more here…

Of course, Iowa City’s parochial schools offer top-notch education as well…

Now, it’s time to get down to business – Johnson County & Iowa City Business, that is…

Using the Iowa River as a power source had been around from the very beginning (1842). Read more here. These mills (below) are still making great use of the water in the 1880’s…

From Dr. E.F. Clapp’s December 1881 welcome message… “We have as large a glucose works as you can find in the country, and doing just as good work. It is nothing for them to turn out thirty or forty barrels of maple molasses from one barrel of New Orleans syrup. You who live at a distance, and put down buckwheat cakes lavishly covered with maple syrup, may not have suspected that it came from Iowa City! We can furnish you with the very best maple syrup without going outside of the corporation for the material.”

Opening in late summer 1880, Iowa City Glass Works became the city’s largest employer in 1881. Read more here. Once again, from Dr. E.F. Clapp’s welcome message… “So we have our glass works, not as large as we intend they shall be, but we send out its products throughout the entire country.“

The Iowa City beers that made Milwaukee jealous. Read more here. Once again, Dr. Clapp – poking fun at the Livestock Breeders… “This might not be the kind of audience to mention our brewery to, because you might take advantage of the knowledge. Besides, gentlemen, you who drink milk at home may not find that it will agree with you. But it is not a Jersey cow, and is not expected to be drained to the last drop.“

And so, the ICBT listings continue with these additional Iowa City manufacturers…

The M.T. Close & Company building (above) – located at 521 S. Gilbert Street – was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1984, but removed in 1995 after major changes were made to the building.

You can’t cover Johnson County and not talk about our Farming and Livestock industry. Did you know that Iowa City was the national hub for Holstein cattle? Read more here.

And finally, the ICBT booklet comes to a close by giving brief descriptions of Iowa City and several other Johnson County communities – Oxford, Solon, and Lone Tree…

Well, that about does it. We hope you enjoyed this brief overview of Iowa City and Johnson County – as they were in 1880. As we mentioned earlier, The Iowa City Republican did this type of overview report once again in June of 1887 – only this time they included dozens & dozens of etchings – offering us a pictorial tour of Iowa City as well. You can read – and see – that eight-page special edition of The Republican here.

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.