Iowa City Walking Tour

Entries on This Tour

Established in 1969, the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art is considered to be one of the country's leading university art museums. It houses an impressive collection of around 15,500 works of art from Iowa and around the world. The collection includes paintings, photographs, drawings, sculpture, prints, textiles, jade, silver, and ceramics. Notable artists represented in the collection include Picasso, Matisse, Miró, and Kandinsky. The museum houses one of the country's best collections of African art, 6,000 prints spanning Western printmaking, 2,000 Pre-Columbian objects, Chinese art, Etruscan and Roman art, Native American ledger drawings, and 20th century American paintings and sculpture. Perhaps the museum's most well-known works are Max Beckmann's painting Karneval, and Jackson Pollock's Mural. As of 2021, the museum in the process of constructing a new building scheduled to open in 2022 but offers exhibitions in temporary locations including the Figge Art Museum in Davenport.

2. The University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Founded in 1858, the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History is the second oldest university museum west of the Mississippi River. It houses a collection of 140,000 specimens, objects, and artifacts from Iowa and around the world. The museum features several permanent exhibits: Iowa Hall, which explores the state's geological, cultural, and ecological history; the William and Eleanor Hagebock Hall of Birds; the Biosphere Discovery Hub, which explores the relationship between people and the environment; the Laysan Island Cyclorama, which is a 360-degree diorama of a Hawaiian atoll called Laysan; Mammal Hall; and Diversity of Life, which features exhibits in the ground-floor hallway displaying a variety of specimens. The museum is housed in Macbride Hall, which is part of the Pentacrest area of campus that features four buildings surrounding the Old Capitol building. Pentracrest is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

3. Old Capitol Building and Museum, Iowa City

Constructed in stages beginning in 1840, this former state capitol now stands as the most prominent landmark at the center of the University of Iowa's campus. The governor and state assembly met at this location from 1840, when the building was partially completed, to 1857 when the legislature voted to move the state capitol further west to the growing city of Des Moines. The building was almost complete when the legislature voted to move the state capital to Des Moines. From 1857 to 1863, the former state capitol served as the first and only building of the University of Iowa. From 1868 to 1910, this building held the university's law school. Following many years of renovation, the former capitol opened as a museum and a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

4. Site of the World's First Educational TV Broadcast

At this location in 1933, the University of Iowa became the first American university to broadcast a television program. The first TV broadcast in the state was just two years prior in 1931 at the Iowa State Fair and University scientists were intrigued by the technology and opportunity. The broadcasts were made from the university's former engineering building which was located where the "Biology Building East" now stands. The audio was broadcast separately on the university's campus radio signal while W9XK broadcast the television signal. The programs were broadcast for seven years from the basement of the former engineering building and letters from viewers in neighboring states demonstrate that the signal was strong enough to reach up to five hundred miles. To date, there is not a historical marker on the University of Iowa campus to commemorate this achievement.

5. Union Brewery Building

The Union Brewery Building is an historic building located in downtown Iowa City, Iowa. Beer is no longer made there and now houses private businesses. It was not built at one time but was added onto over several years (the first portion was built in 1856). The building has several addresses attached to it: 127-131 N. Linn and 221-227 E. Market. It is famous for its "beer caves", which, if efforts are successful, will become available for tours or other commercial activities.

6. St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church

St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church was built in 1867 and is home to a congregation founded in 1841 by pioneer Dominican missionary Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli (1806-1864). It is a parish of the Dioceses of Davenport and a typical example of 19th century ecclesiastical architecture. Built of red brick and stone trim, the church features widespread use of round arches, a bell tower, buttresses, pilasters, and stained-glass windows. The bell tower houses a four-sided clock and is topped by an octagonal spire. St. Mary's was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

7. State Historical Society Research Center, Iowa City

Established in 1857 at what is now the University of Iowa in Iowa City, the State Historical Society of Iowa preserves and interpretts the state's history. One of two research centers, the Centennial Building of Iowa City includes archivists and millions of documents and historic photographs that can assist researchers and archivists. The state also maintains an archive in Des Moines at the State Historical Building on Locust St.

8. Former Home of Dr. Jesse Bowen (John Brown in Iowa City)

This was the location of the home of Jesse Bowen, an influential physician and an outspoken opponent of slavery. Bowen was a leading member of the Whig Party in Indiana and came to Iowa in 1840. Bowen remained active in politics and was part of the vanguard who created the Republican Party in opposition to the disproportionate power of Southern planters and the extension of slavery in the West. Prior to the Civil War, Bowen served in the Iowa Senate and was appointed Adjutant General. At the age of 60, Bowen resigned his public office to serve as a civilian employee of the Union Army. Bowen was also a strong supporter of John Brown and met with Brown and his supporters clandestinely at this home while he was in Iowa City meeting with fellow anti-slavery men. Bowen's home was not preserved and the location is now home to a wood frame home that is private property.

9. Thomas C. Carson House

The Thomas C. Carson House is one of the few homes designed in the Second Empire style remaining in Iowa. Its namesake, businessman Thomas C. Carson, built it in 1875. The structure is now a sorority house for the University of Iowa chapter of Alpha Phi. The house is three stories high and features a mansard roof with a diamond shingle pattern, decorative window headers, and an arched double-door at the main entrance. The house is was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and is a contributing property of the East College Street Historic District, which is also listed on the National Register.

10. Lindsay House (Bloom County House)

This Lindsay House, now called the Bloom County House, is one of the three houses belonging to the River City Housing Collective. Built in 1893, It was designed by architect George F. Barber and Company in the Queen Anne revival style. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

11. Englert Theater

The Englert Theater is an historic, vaudeville era theater built in 1912 in downtown Iowa City, Iowa. It was designed by Vorse, Kraitsch, & Kraitsch, and Wiley & Son in the Renaissance Revival style. It is now a community arts center operated by the non-profit art organization, Englert Civic Theater. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

12. Trinity Episcopal Church

Trinity Episcopal Church dates back to the establishment of a congregation by missionaries in 1841. The church building was completed in 1871 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

13. Close House

This Iowa City landmark was built by industrialist Chalmer D. Close in 1874. A fine example of Italianate architecture, the Close House was once the center of a small but prosperous industrial hub that Close and his brother, Manley, developed during and after the Civil War. Close operated a number of businesses including a linseed oil company and a glove factory, both of which were located nearby. In terms of design, the mansion is a fine example of Italianate architecture. It is three stories tall and features arched windows with decorative molded sandstone caps, a three-sided projecting pavilion topped with a balcony, a main entrance portico, an elaborate cornice, and a cupola with small glass windows. The house is now home to a non-profit arts organization called Public Space One. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

14. Johnson County Courthouse

The Johnson County Courthouse was built in 1901 and houses Iowa City's county government offices including the City Attorney and Clerk of Court's offices. It was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by architect A.W. Rush. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December, 1974.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Iowa City Walking Tour

Created by Clio Admin on August 5th 2018, 4:37:18 pm.

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Description

Explore the history of Iowa City with this brief walking tour that includes historic buildings such as the Union Brewery, Englert Theatre, the former Iowa Capitol, and the Johnson County Courthouse. The tour also includes a stop at a home that was part of the Underground Railroad and the Centennial Building, home to one of the two research centers operated by the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI). Many of the entries in this tour were created by faculty and students at the University of Iowa and we hope to add additional sites to the tour in the near future.

Entries on This Tour

Iowa City Walking Tour

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