Rivers Regional Patterns in Historic Data

A report produced by the Department of Natural Resources on the historical pattern the rivers take.

Historic Alteration of Surface Hydrology on the Des Moines Lobe, 2001

Water fact sheet for Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Geological Bureau.

Discovering Historic Iowa Transportation Milestones, February 1999

In studying and forming an understanding of Iowa’s transportation history, we must surely develop a reverence for the lifestyles which preceded ours. Achieving a greater understanding of our past, we are better prepared to plan our future as we say farewell to the 20th century and move forward into the 21st. In the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes: “I believe the greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving... and the further backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.” To help Iowans gain a better understanding of our state’s rich transportation past, the Iowa Department of Transportation has produced a collection of materials including this booklet, the 1999-2000 Iowa Transportation Map, a video entitled A History of Iowa’s Rivers, Roads, Rails and Runways, and a traveling photo exhibit. In addition, Iowa is fortunate to have many local organizations, and the state-owned museum and historic sites, working to preserve the history of our state. Listed in the back section of this booklet are the addresses and descriptions of many sites that offer visitors an opportunity to see a wide range of transportation- related artifacts. The information and photographs are organized in time sequence. However, you will note that many of the transportation eras overlap. The booklet begins with Iowa’s pre-settlement era and concludes with the historic highway and transit program that was signed into law by President Clinton in 1998. As you can imagine, condensing this much Iowa history into a booklet-sized resource was a monumental challenge. Making selections and abbreviating the information resulted in some difficult editorial choices. However, we hope this publication will inspire readers to learn more about our rich, rewarding past and to visit and experience some of Iowa’s historic sites.

Tax Credit Evaluation Study: Historic Preservation and Cultural and Entertainment District Tax Credit, March 2009

During the 2005 Legislative Session the Iowa Department of Revenue received an appropriation to establish the Tax Credits Tracking and Analysis Program (TCTAP) to track tax credit awards and claims. In addition, the Department was directed to perform periodic evaluations of tax credit programs. The purpose of these studies is three-fold: (1) To provide a comparison of the Iowa tax credit program to similar federal and other states’ programs (2) To summarize information related to the usage of the Iowa tax credit (3) To evaluate the economic impact of the tax credit program.

Iowa’s Historic Automobile Roads A National Register Study of Pre-1948 Arterial Highways, 2009

This study of Iowa’s Historic Automobile Roads has been prepared by the Highway Archaeology Program under the terms of an annual cultural resource surveys contract between the Iowa DOT and The University of Iowa. Under this agreement, state transportation funds are appropriated by the Iowa DOT for The University of Iowa Highway Archaeology Program to locate and determine the significance of cultural resources in the area of proposed highway and transportation improvement work. Cultural resources include archaeological, historical, and architectural sites. The study of Iowa’s Historic Automobile Roads reported herein, including archival research and survey, was conducted between June 2002 and June 2007, by Marlin R. Ingalls and Maria F. Schroeder. The University of Iowa Highway Archaeology Program is solely responsible for the content and accuracy of these reports with respect to site location description, interpretation, and recommendations. Duplicate project reports are filed at the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), Community Programs Bureau in Des Moines. Illustrations in this report may have been altered for clarity and sized to fit the page.

Some historic markers in Iowa,1943.

This book is part of the Iowa Monograph Series, number 8, edited by Ruth A. Gallager. It was compiled by Susie Webb Wright and includes information on markers and monuments in Iowa which tell of people, places, incidents, or events connected with Iowa history.

National register of historic places in Iowa,1978.

This is a list of properties in Iowa in 1978 that are on the National Register of Historic Places. These properties are recognized as being historically, architecturally and archaeologically significant through a program of registration, financial aid and incentive, and partial protection from damage or destruction by federally-funded projects.

Iowa Historic Property Study of the Zeman Barn, 2009

The Zeman Barn (86-00028) is an early twentieth-century example of a gothic roofed barn and is part of the Zeman Farmstead located along U.S. Highway 30 in Otter Creek Township (Township 38N, Range 14W), Tama County, Iowa (Figures 1 and 2). The farmstead was initially evaluated in a reconnaissance architectural survey conducted in 1998 by The Louis Berger Group, Inc (Berger). An intensive architectural survey of the property by Berger’s Principal Architectural Historian, Martha H. Bowers, evaluated the farmstead as not being eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) but noted that the barn appears to be eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion C (Bowers 1998). At the request of the Iowa Department of Transportation, Berger completed the recordation project to provide a documentary record of the Zeman Barn in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Iowa State Historic Preservation Office regarding historic property studies for barns. Background research for this project was conducted in September 2008 and April 2009. The property was inspected and photographed in May 2008. Information on the property was gathered through background research, interviews with Zeman family members, field investigation, and photo documentation. Historical maps of the project area were used to collect data necessary for developing regional and local historic contexts. The research for this report was conducted at the Tama County Courthouse and the Tama County Historical Museum Genealogical Library, both in Toledo. Much of the background research for the project was conducted by Camilla Deiber and Michael Dulle. Ms. Deiber also prepared the photographic documentation, plan drawings, and the graphics used in this report. Mr. Roger L. Ciuffo conducted interviews with Zeman family members and wrote this report.

Indian Creek Channel: the evolution & significance of an historic public works administration flood control facility, Council Bluffs, Iowa, 2010

Plagued for nearly a century by the perennial flooding of Indian Creek, the City begins construction on a massive channelization project designed to confine the creek to its banks. Funded largely through a grant from the recently established Public Works Administration (PWA), the Indian Creek Channel, upon its completion two years later, would become the largest PWA undertaking in the State of Iowa. Though it did not completely end flooding in Council Bluffs, construction of the Indian Creek Channel did substantially reduce both the number and severity of the city's subsequent floods. It also profoundly impacted the residential and commercial development of Council Bluffs, as well as the city's sanitary conditions. The effects of the Indian Creek channelization, both practical and historical, are still realized today. In 2009, plans for a City road and bridge construction project at the intersection of North Broadway Street and Kanesville Boulevard proposed to replace a 221-foot-long segment of the Indian Creek Channel with a concrete box culvert. In compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, a cultural resources study was conducted at the proposed construction site, the findings of which concluded that the historic character of the Indian Creek Channel would be compromised by the impending construction. As a means of mitigating these damages, an agreement was reached among the City, the Iowa State Historic Preservation Office, and the Federal Highway Administration that resulted in detailed research and documentation of the historical significance of the Indian Creek Channel. The findings of that study are summarized in this publication.

Report on the Historic Preservation and Cultural and Entertainment District Tax Credit program administered by the State Historic Preservation Office within the State Historical Society of Iowa, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, for the period July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2013

Report on the Historic Preservation and Cultural and Entertainment District Tax Credit program administered by the State Historic Preservation Office within the State Historical Society of Iowa, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, for the period July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2013

Iowa Historic Property Study: Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge Carrying I-74 and U.S. 6 over Mississippi River between Bettendorf, Scott County, Iowa and Moline, Rock Island County, Illinois, 2012

The 1935 Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge is being documented at this time to fulfill the requirements of the Memorandum of Agreement regarding the removal of the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge and the Iowana Farms Milk Company Building for the proposed improvements to Interstate 7 4 in Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline, Illinois.1 The 1959 twin suspension bridge will be removed as well, but it was determined to be ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Discussion of the history of the 1959 twin span is included, however, in the current report as part of the overall history of the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge. Fieldwork for the documentation occurred in November 2009 and October 2010 (Fig. 1). Limitations on photography included limited shoreline access on the Illinois side, making good views of the bridge from the south somewhat challenging. Also, photographs on the bridge deck were not possible because of interstate traffic and prohibitions on pedestrian traffic. Within the last few years, online primary sources have proliferated, along with historical materials regarding the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge. Sources available online for this report included numerous historical photographs, as well as historical Davenport, Iowa, and U.S. newspapers that document the bridge planning and construction. Additional primary source material was found at the University of Iowa Libraries, the State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa City, the Bettendorf Public Library, the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center at the Davenport Public Library, and the Iowa State University Special Collections in Ames.

Iowa Historic Property Study: Iowana Farms Milk Company, 1416 State Street, City of Bettendorf, Scott County, Iowa, 2012

The Iowana Farms Milk Company factory building was considered to retain sufficient integrity and possess sufficient significance to be considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C for its historical and architectural significance in the Bettendorf community. The Iowana Farms Milk Company was an important early to mid-twentieth-century business in Bettendorf, and was among the few that was not owned or operated by the Bettendorf Company. It was a strong and thriving business for many years, and its products were well known in the Quad Cities region. The importance of this property becomes even more significant when one considers that most of the buildings once associated with the actual Bettendorf Company, which was undeniably the most important business and industry in town, are now gone. As a result, the Iowana Farms Milk Company factory building was a physical vestige of the once-thriving commercial industries that made Bettendorf into a city in the twentieth century. This property was further significant for its representation of the evolution of the dairy industry in the twentieth century from farm to factory production. It also reflected the changes to the industry based on scientific discoveries, mechanical innovations, and governmental regulations related to improved sanitation and the pure milk movement. The Iowana Farms Milk Company represented a model plant for the time, and the marketing strategies it employed followed the trends of the industry. The Iowana Farms Milk Company plant had to be removed to make room for a new I-74 bridge over the Mississippi River at Bettendorf. The construction of the new bridge also required removal of the historic Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge. The documentation reported herein and for that of the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge fulfills the requirements of the Memorandum of Agreement regarding the removal of these historic properties.

The Mormon Trail: Historic Byway Inventory and Evaluation, 1998

A three-step approach was used to do the study of the Mormon Trail. These involved research, field data collection and evaluation of the project corridors. Step one involved research on the location of the Trail, associated sites and the historic land use near the Trail between 1846 and 1868. The next step involved defining roads to be inventoried and the actual field survey. Step three involved evaluation of the inventoried corridors. This evaluation procedure was based on the methodology currently used by Iowa DOT to evaluate candidate scenic byway routes but involved different evaluation factors. The numeric results of the two analyses can be directly compared. The results of the field survey and evaluation are shown in detail by county. Inventory and evaluation procedures for historic and cultural byways are discussed in Appendix A.

Iowa Historic Property Study of the Thomas A. Graham House (86-00024) : Tama, Iowa, 2002

The purpose of the present recordation project is to provide a documentary record of the Thomas A. Graham House in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Iowa State Historic Preservation Office regarding historic property studies for houses. Background research for this project was conducted in April 2002. The property was inspected and photographed in November 2001.