The History Center

Housed in the George B. Douglas Mansion, the History Center is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of Linn County. It features permanent and changing exhibits as well as an archives and a research library that contain more than 20,000 items. These include Civil War era letters, pioneer diaries, newspaper clippings, and school annuals. The Center's main collection contains over 50,000 items. The mansion was built by its first owner, George B. Douglas, in 1897 and is an excellent example of Colonial Revival architecture. Douglas was a prominent businessman who was part of owner of a cereal mill that merged with the Quaker Oats Company. The mansion is also significant for its association with another owner, David Turner, and the American painter Grant Wood. In 1930, Wood painted his most famous work, American Gothic, in the carriage house which he rented from Turner between 1924 and 1933.

Douglas followed in the footsteps of his father, George Douglas Sr., who became wealthy by building stone bridges for railroads and owning a large amount of farmland. Douglas Sr., who was born in Scotland, met another Scottish businessman, Robert Stuart in 1873 and soon established an oatmeal factory called Douglass & Stewart. Douglas Jr. was involved in running the mill until 1891 when it merged with the Quaker Oats Company.

He became a stockholder of the company but also became involved in other ventures. He and group of investors founded a linseed oil company in 1894 (they eventually sold it to a bigger company) and in 1903, Douglas and his brother, Walter, founded a corn starch factory, which was believed to be the largest factory west of the Mississippi River by 1910. In 1919, a large explosion severely damaged the factory but it was rebuilt and became the Penick & Ford Factory, which evolved into the Penford Corporation (Penford is now a subsidiary of another corporation called Ingredion).

The Douglas family lived in the house until 1906. During that time they hosted several social gatherings with other prominent local families and Douglas often held business meetings as well. In need of a larger house, the family moved to the historic Brucemore Mansion in 1906 (they swapped houses with the owner the mansion, Caroline Sinclair, who was looking for a smaller home).

Caroline and her son Robert and his family moved into the house in 1906. Caroline's husband, Thomas, had died by then. Sadly, Robert's wife died in 1908 after giving birth and he asked two of his youngest sisters to live in the house and help raise his children. Robert made a living by running the slaughterhouse business his father started in 1871. Caroline and one of the sisters both died in 1917. Robert remarried in 1923 and moved to Indianapolis to start a new job at a packing company.

David Turner and his father, John, bought the house and converted it into a funeral home called Turner Mortuary. They hired Wood and an architect to manage the conversion and many substantial changes were made to the house, including enlarging the dining room into a funeral chapel. The Turners offered Wood the option to convert the carriage house as a home a studio as partial payment for the work he did. Wood, his sister, and his mother, Nan, lived in the carriage house. The Turners admired Wood's work and became his patron. They bought many of his paintings and displayed them in the house (the Turner family donated 84 of Wood's paintings to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art in 1972). The family sold the business in 1978 to the Linge family, who ran a mortuary business and cemetery.

The Linge family ended funeral services in 2004 but rented the house as event space. Wood's home and studio was acquired by the Cedar Rapids Art Museum at that time as well. The Linges put the house up for sale in 2012 and the History Center bought it in 2014. Over the next few years the house was refurbished and then opened to the public in 2018.

"A Storied Structure." The History Center. Accessed December 30, 2021. https://www.historycenter.org/douglas-mansion.

Beving, Barbara. "George B. Douglas House." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. September 9, 1982. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/82002628_text.